When Will This End?
by Ven'aranar Angel
Summary: Will war ever leave the galaxy? Monsters continue to creep through shadows and a beast of a whole other kind waits for his chance to strike. (Sequel to 'The Beast War'. Genres are the same as the last story.)
1. Stealth

_A.N. ~ hello, hello people! I knew what I wanted to say earlier, but I completely forgot what, so I'll just give the disclaimer and be on my merry way. Enjoy the chapter :)_

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars or anything created by the brilliant mind of George Lucas. I only own my ONs (Original Nouns). That is all._**

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><p>Activity in the workout room was at a maximum. Twitch was lifting weights beside Read, Arrow and Cheshire were at the shooting range, trying to outdo each other and prove aiming superiority. Songbird was at the punching bags, sparring with Bucky among them as though the equipment were part of a landscape, Dream was taking a break in one corner, and Rogue and Steam were apparently determined to beat each other in sparring.<p>

"So when's our next mission?" Read puffed.

"No idea. Whenever High Command thinks we're needed. But at this rate, the girls'll be ready to kill a dragon in minutes if they don't have something to do." Twitch grunted. She recalled Kat asking similar questions, almost expecting the same words to leave her second's mouth.

"No kidding. So, anything interesting happen recently?"

"The 501st hasn't been on leave for almost six months. They've gotta be getting worn down by now."

"Six months? Really? Well, can't say I don't envy them."

"Yeah, the lucky jerks. Oi, widen your stance, Bucky!" The captain called.

"R-right! Thanks!" The enthusiastic girl replied.

"You're getting bored too, huh?" Read sighed.

"Going crazy. My name still applies."

On the other side of the Military district, the 659th and 104th were returning from the Beast Zone, worn out and sore, but containing a few eager troops. Kat and her nexu, Claws, were sharing the burden of five cubs. The grown feline had given birth months earlier, and she was excessively protective of her first litter, as all queens were.

Zeta Squad was looking forward to meeting the girls, both under Twitch's command and Wolffe's. The separate parties beelined for where they knew they would find the captain, meeting at the door with obvious excitement at seeing the cubs.

"They're cute." Darys, an Umbaran, grinned, reaching out to touch one of the young nexus. Claws nearly bit his hand off.

"And they're her first cubs, so she's kinda touchy about them. Even Ranger hasn't gotten to hold one yet." Kat shrugged. Ranger was a trooper she had come to know in the 104th, and for some reason, the teenager's companion had a soft spot for him since the moment they'd met.

"Hey, you know we can see you, right?" Someone called from inside the workout room.

"Coming!" The troops walked in and took in the nine teenagers in front of them, all doing something or other.

"She had her cubs!" Twitch grinned, delighted at the sight of the small nexus.

"And all five of them are a pain in the shebs. They're worse than Claws." Kat replied, putting down her two charges. They let out high-pitched whines and their mother scooped them closer with her tail, moving to a corner before lying down to suckle them.

"Well, girls like you have that affect on children." The captain quipped.

"Ha, ha. Just say hi to your brother, ya big jerk."

_Hi, vod. How was the Zone? _Twitch asked through her telepathic link with Tail.

_Not boring. How was whatever it is you lot do?_ The scout walked toward his close sister so they could talk aloud without raising suspicion. Telepathy wasn't exactly on the regular list of clone abilities, so the two tried to keep it quiet.

_We've had nothing _to _do. It's worse than when we were independent commandos, _she complained.

"I'm always confused when you two are near each other." Read muttered. "You show suppressed signs of conversational body language, but don't say a word." Tail nearly said 'we're telepaths', as he and Twitch always did when someone said things like this, but his sister-by-choice warned him to stay quiet.

"We like messing with people by saying we're telepathic. You should try it sometime, it's really fun." The fifteen-year-old patted her second's shoulder.

_Tail, trust me, you can't lie to Read. She'll pick it up so quickly your head will spin._

_So _you_ get to say stuff?_ He challenged.

_I'm a better liar._

"Heh, I will. Sounds like it really would be a nice way to freak people out."

"Hey, captain." Darys walked over, saluting at Twitch and earning rolled eyes. He knew the other teenager hated being treated as an officer during down time.

"Hey, shiny." She shot back, getting a scowl. Just as the Umbaran knew Twitch's pet peeve, she also knew his. He was definitely past the rookie stages, but that didn't mean he couldn't still be called one.

Read looked back and forth from them before bursting into laughter.

"What?" They asked.

"I think she's noticed something that you two haven't." Tail grinned. Darys' pale cheeks turned a blackish-red color in an embarrassed blush. Seeing it only made the older girl laugh harder.

"Ugh, sometimes I think you need a blindfold." The captain growled.

"No matter. I'd just listen to your voices." The three glared. Meanwhile, the two remaining members of Zeta Squad were split up, Hazard trying to out-snipe Cheshire and Arrow, who had somehow, at one point, gotten ahold of a Nightsister energy bow. Go figure.

Streak was talking to Kat, and they seemed extremely interested in what they were discussing. The rest of the people in the room went about their business as though nothing new had happened, though Songbird nearly clobbered Bucky since she was so distracted by looking at the arrivals.

* * *

><p>"Finally!"<p>

"About karkin' time!"

"Let's do this!" The girls were abuzz with the news that they were being deployed on a mission to investigate a possible prison on Teth. No ordinary prison, though. It was likely a Separatist building holding war prisoners.

It was Twitch and her subordinates' jobs to find it, search it, and free all prisoners they could, if there were any.

"Easy, you guys. If this is a Sep prison, there'll be guards. But nothing we won't be able to handle. If it's small, we may just take the entire thing over." Twitch grinned, getting more excited babbling from her girls.

_Tail, we'll be leaving tomorrow. Wanna do something before then? _She asked.

_Absolutely. What'd you have in mind?_

* * *

><p>The girls had insisted on naming the <em>Lambda<em>-class shuttle they'd traveled in _Serenity_, and Twitch was fine with that. R2-K5, a lively, curious astromech, was with them, and had downloaded medical files in case of the very likely event of injured people for Twitch and the others to access. Mainly for Songbird, who'd shown quite a knack for healing.

Most of the girls were in the passenger area, but Read and the captain, along with Kayfe, stayed in the cockpit.

"So, what had you laughing earlier?" Twitch asked, firing up the engines. Her second was in the co-pilot seat, helping speed things up.

"Oh, just some stuff. You know he likes you, right?"

"Darys? He used to, a couple years ago."

"How about now? Because he and you seemed to be quite friendly." The C.O. glared.

"We were squad mates and we _are _just friends."

"That's not what your body language said."

"Okay, that's the line. He may still feel an attraction, but I'm not interested."

_I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, _Twitch mentally repeated as they left atmosphere.

"Your mouth says yes, but your body says otherwise." That got Read a venomous scowl. "Okay, okay. But avoiding this is just going to eventually make it blow up in your faces.

"Good thing I know how to stop explosions, then."

* * *

><p>The prison was, in fact, real, and built into a cliff, so there was no telling how large it really was. That knowledge was the squad's first priority.<p>

First, Cheshire and Arrow took out the two cameras visible, but from the sides so the droids on watch, two B1s, didn't notice and raise the alarm. With a couple more shots from the snipers, they couldn't do anything.

All nine girls ran to the door, getting in the ventilation shafts as quickly as possible before placing the covers back on them. They split up, following a previously created plan. Twitch, Read, Dream, and Rogue, the oldest of the girls and therefore the largest started searching for where the prisoners were being kept.

Cheshire, Songbird, Bucky, Steam, and Arrow split up to find the schematics of the prison, as well as its warden. If they found him, and he was flesh and blood, that would make commandeering the building far easier. They also were to shut down whatever they could, especially the surveillance system.

Twitch had been clear that they only use hand signals, no speaking. Noise of any sort wouldn't be helpful. The girls slid quietly through the dark, dusty shafts.

Read had her mace and a DC-15S blaster, Cheshire had her DC-15x sniper rifle and beskade – Mandalorian swords – as did Songbird, though she carried the same gun type as Read. Dream had borrowed Twitch's electrostaff for close range, since both girls liked using it, and had a '15, too. Rogue was using a single DC-17 heavy blaster pistol, not bothering with any close range weapons besides her own body. Arrow still had her energy bow, which she considered all the weaponry necessary, Steam had a DC-15A rifle, which was good for close or long range combat, and Bucky was packing her favored shock whip, along with a '17. The captain was with her usual blaster pistols, gauntlets, and wearing her cloak.

It didn't take the squad long to reach their objectives. Twitch's group waited in the vents above where some droids were patrolling up and down a hall. Low male voices could be hear every so often. Somewhere, a clone was screaming, likely from torture.

Meanwhile, Arrow's sub-squad found what appeared to be the control center. Only B1s were present, so the girls spread out to the three grates that opened into the room. Cheshire and Songbird took one position, Bucky and Steam to the second, and on a silent count, they burst into action, shooting, slicing, or otherwise destroying the machines.

"Chesh, the doors!" Arrow ordered. The eleven-year-old began darting around, trusting her squad mates to distract all opponents. By the time she found the controls to seal off the room, all threats had been neutralized.

"That was _awesome_! Let's go again!" Bucky bounced on the balls of her feet, retracting her shock whip back into its handle and belting it.

"First things first, let's see what we're dealing with and all the other fun stuff." Arrow sat down and began hacking into the prison's mainframe.

* * *

><p>Twitch signalled for her group to move, and they spread out before jumping down and killing the guards. While Read, Dream, and Rogue searched the rooms, the captain left to find the clone that was being tortured.<p>

She stumbled upon a pair of commando droids that were standing at the door to a chamber, both of which were promptly dealt with, before she opened the door and shot the torture droid several times, blocking the laser bolts of more commandos before dueling and destroying them.

A clone hung in chains, covered in blood and wounds. Twitch cut him down, catching the man and nearly falling under his weight. She could tell he was far lighter than usual, but a grown man was a grown man.

"Hang on. We're getting you out of here." The veteran grunted, supporting and basically dragging the clone out of the room.

"My…men." He rasped.

"I've got my squad working on that."

"Y-you're a kid?"

"Fifteen, but that's not relevant."

"Captain, these guys are in bad shape." Read panted, supporting another prisoner.

"Then let's wrap this up. How many are there?" Twitch peered around the seventeen-year-old.

"Nine. We found some dead ones."

"How many can walk on their own?" The second hesitated.

"Not sure. When we meet up with the others, movement'll be less of a problem.

"Good. We've attracted attention by now. Double time."

* * *

><p>"They're not getting through, are they?" Bucky grinned, holding in a laugh. Droids had been trying to enter the room for several minutes, but had had little success.<p>

"Not in time to stop us. We're almost done here." Arrow replied. In a couple minutes, the girls jumped into the vents and left to rendezvous with the older group, finding them in a firefight with droids.

Cheshire and Songbird drew their beskade and jumped down behind the machines, followed by Bucky, who readied her whip, Steam, preparing to shoot and take cover, and Arrow, following her hotheaded sister's plan. The droids were outmatched and outgunned, killed quickly enough.

"Good work. There are some men who need help in the back. Let's go before somebody else notices we're here." Twitch ordered, transferring her charge to Arrow's shoulders. "I'm going to set this place to blow. Comm me when you're clear." She aimed the last statement at Read, who nodded and took charge as the captain ran back the way they'd gone.

* * *

><p><em>Serenity <em>was crowded with nine girls and nine men, all of whom were injured. Songbird was busy with Kayfe, flitting around with her medical supplies and treating the most severe injuries first. The rescue team was in the cockpit minus the medic, giving the liberated prisoners more room to lie down.

Lieutenant Ridge had insisted on being up at the front of the ship, where he could check on his men with a glance and still talk to Twitch.

"A captain?" He repeated incredulously.

"Yes. You're sure you don't want to lie down?"

"I'll be fine. But what I'd like to know is why a bunch of kids were sent to investigate that prison."

"Look, if you want to go back and wait for a bunch of other guys—"

"Steam, why don't you concentrate on your station?" Read cut in.

"Highly trained kids, lieutenant. Sorry we aren't men in armor, but stealth was the better option." Twitch answered.

"Since when…is sneaking around the better option?" A trooper grunted, staggering into the cockpit, closely followed by Songbird.

"Sorry, cap. He won't stay still." The medic sighed, scowling.

"Stealth got us in and out with no casualties, didn't it?" Read smirked from her spot at the co-pilot's station.

"Ace, you shouldn't be up." Ridge faced his subordinate with crossed arms.

"Neither should you. Back to the passenger section before I put you both out and have to carry you." Songbird's temper started to flare. "Medic's orders." She added sharply when the men began to protest.

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><p><em>A.N. ~ I'll work on Chapter Two. Hope you liked it. Oh, and please R&amp;R. It really is appreciated. :)<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Shebs: [shebs] butt, backside, rear, buttocks (also rear of building, ETC)**

**Vod: [vohd] brother, sister, (less formally) friend**

**(Mando words are often pluralized with either 'e' or 'se', just in case you lot forgot that in the day it took me to make this chapter ;)**


	2. Don't Bother Lying

_A.N. ~ sorry for the wait, guys. My computer couldn't get wifi at my dad's house and I came down with writer's block. Again. No more excuses. Anyway, this chapter is short, but at least it's a chapter._

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><p>After a couple days' travel, most of the rescued clones had started to recover under the relentless watch of Songbird and her medical expertise. Ridge was one of the more badly injured, but he was on the mend.<p>

Twitch and Read were taking shifts sleeping and eating, vigilant in case of any possible trouble. Their main concern was keeping Steam from strangling one of the men. She was being rubbed the wrong way nearly every time someone spoke, either through ageism, sexism, rescue tactics, or some other touchy subject.

The rest of the girls just did what they could to help, tidying up around _Serenity _or helping Song with her medical duties. Arrow and Bucky got so bored that they took to cleaning Kayfe repeatedly.

"Better not hear any 'are we there yets'." The captain muttered with a smirk to her second.

"Anybody who says that can get outside and push." Read grinned.

"ETA?" Steam hopped into a seat close to Twitch.

"Eh, nearly three days. I suggest you find something to occupy yourself with." The CO shrugged.

"Agh, right. Hey, Chesh, how did you say you used those swords of yours?" The hotheaded girl called as she sprung out of the chair.

"Mff, go 'way. Sleeping." The small soldier mumbled from where she was sitting with her back to the wall.

"Come on, short stuff. Must be getting bored by now." Steam squatted in front of her sister.

"Go 'way before I move." Translating that would lead to the conclusion of how Cheshire would disappear completely if she wasn't left in peace.

"Okay, okay. I'll go ask So—ah, ah, ear! That's my ear. Leggo!" Songbird had one hand on her hip and the other pinching Steam's ear. She scowled and sighed.

"You go sleep or do something other than harass people. Unlike you, some of us actually want a decent sleep." The medic crossed her arms, watching as her squad mate slunk off.

* * *

><p>"You know, I coulda sworn Florrum was a good way off." Twitch grumbled, preparing her guns. The male clones had been moved into the lower maintenance area, hidden while the girls dealt with the pirates that were about to board <em>Serenity<em>.

"No matter, these di'kute are history if they think we're going to be damsels in distress." Steam cocked her '15A.

"We stop them before they come fully on, we ask what they want, and no one fires a shot unless I say so or they start first, got it?" The captain demanded loudly.

"Yes, ma'am!" The eight other girls chanted.

First came a couple of large body guards, who were stopped, followed by Hondo Ohnaka himself, also halted.

"Honestly, didn't our last encounter warn you off, Ohnaka?" Twitch sighed, pointing one of her pistols straight between the Weequay's eyes.

"You killed a lot of my men, little girl." The head pirate crossed his arms.

"And you threatened mine. What do you want?" More pirates appeared behind Hondo, but their raised guns were waved down quickly.

"Well, I _was _looking for a little profit, but seeing how this is your ship, I think it would be best to leave peacefully."

"Ha! Tell me nobody's buying this." Read snorted.

"This is my second. Don't bother lying, because she'll pick it up quite fast." Twitch warned. "Now, what was that about leaving peacefully?"

* * *

><p>"I'm fine, Song. It's only a graze." Twitch tried standing up, but the medic shoved her back down.<p>

"'Only a graze', my shebs. That bolt hit you square in the shoulder. Now pipe down and hold still before I get a syringe." That effectively shut the fifteen-year-old up and she stayed still while bacta and bandages were applied to her wound.

Hondo and his gang had left after a short firefight resulting in losses of his men and health. Though the skirmish was brief, it had managed to injure the captain when she'd drawn fire from her girls.

"I swear, if you don't take it slow, I'll strap you to this bench and make you." Songbird huffed once she was done.

"Hold the threat making for the next people who attack us. I'll be in the cockpit."

"Strong restraints! Maybe even an anesthesia or two!" Song yelled at her sister's back.

"I'll keep that in mind, Spitfire."

"And don't call me that!"

"Your medic's definitely…" Ridge shrugged, sitting at the co-pilot's station.

"Well, the threats were semi-necessary. None of us are too fond of taking things slow. She's probably just wired from dealing with Steam." The hothead had also been injured and presented an impossible challenge to Songbird.

"I'm still trying to figure out why you're all teenagers." The lieutenant scowled. Everyone else was either asleep or in the passenger area.

"Well, all except Cheshire. She's eleven. But age is irrelevant in our squad. All of my girls can hold their own in a fight."

"They're kids." Ridge sighed.

"We're soldiers. Biology is of little consequence. After all, you're only a teenager, right?"

"How'd you know that?"

"Wasn't always in this squad."

"Gonna keep me guessing, aren't you?" The man frowned.

"My first battalion was the 501st." That only raised more questions.

* * *

><p>"Home sweet home." Bucky grumbled, looking at the hills of Naboo irritably.<p>

"Hey, we can go hunting later." Arrow smiled. The rescued clones left for the medical bay, escorted by Songbird who was fretting over her work and checking to see if she had missed any injuries.

"She's kind of scary when someone gets hurt." Cheshire commented to Twitch as they watched the medic.

"Yeah. Great incentive to stay in one piece." The captain's bandaged shoulder was a testimony to her words.

_Vod, you there? _She asked. To her frustration, there was no reply.

Twitch hated being separated from Tail, even during a short scouting mission. Getting to see each other on and off for months was driving her insane.

"Well, you're not happy with something." Read commented. The other girls had begun to leave _Serenity _to go to their quarters.

"Just miss Tail. The di'kut gets into plenty of trouble."

"And is Tail the _only _one you miss?" The second leaned toward her friend.

"Zeta Squad in general. Eh, it's nothing. Let's go make sure none of the others explode."

"You know," the older girl spoke as they walked, "it's okay to admit you have emotions."

"Emotions I have. Letting myself act on them isn't alright."

"Whatever you say, emotionless leader. Have fun with your suppressed feelings."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Twitch. Welcome home!" Saundra called from the kitchen.<p>

"Hey, Saundra. How are you?" The captain asked.

"Great! Y'know, dinner's just about ready. Mind grabbing Jessie?"

"Sure." The soldier found her adopted sister playing in the living room with a ball, laughing as she toyed with it. "Hey, bud. Dinner time." Twitch picked up the child, who unfortunately grabbed her injured shoulder, drawing out a sharp yelp. "Ow! Ai, why'd you have to go there?" She asked, transferring Jessie to her other arm.

"Twitch? Is that you?" Tsudek called from the top of the stairs.

"In the flesh. Jessie's got a painful grip!"

"What'd she do?" The man came downstairs.

"Grabbed me wrong. We're gonna be late for dinner. Let's get going." The two hurried to reach the table, plopping Jessie into her high chair before claiming their own seats.

"Just in time." The wife commented as she placed a large pot of stew in between them before ladling out helpings. Tsudek was on Twitch's right and Saundra was on her left. Mrs. Lynn passed a bowl of cooked vegetables, a clearly heavy one since her knuckles were turning white, to the soldier.

The teenager twisted to grab it with her right hand, getting raised eyebrows.

"Wouldn't using your left hand first be better?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah, probably. Realized that after it was too late." Tsudek, once the bowl was safely down, suddenly reached over and squeezed Twitch's left shoulder. She barked and swatted his hand away, holding her wound protectively against any further attack.

"Right, and you just happen to have a bruise?" He crossed his arms.

"It's nothing. Just a result of the job." She protested.

"Twitch." The adults glared.

"Okay, okay. I took a bolt in the shoulder."

"How?" Saundra sighed.

"Oh, some pirates boarded our ship and I drew their fire while the others returned it. Just a minor skirmish. Only the pirates lost men."

"'Lost men'? Twitch, did you kill somebody?" The woman asked, eyes wide. The commando's first instinct was to lie and assure her friends she hadn't, but it was time they knew the stakes and faced reality.

"Saundra, I've fought in three wars. Of course I've killed other people. I don't enjoy it, but that doesn't mean I regret defending the other troops I was with."

"What have you done?" Tsudek moaned.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

"This is serious, Twitch! You've gone through traumatizing things!"

"And I moved past them. No."

"This is for your own good."

"Ha! Where have I heard _that _before. No." Tsudek and Saundra exchanged frustrated looks.

"Why not?" Mr. Lynn demanded.

"Because it isn't necessary and I don't need a stranger poking around my life."

"Councillors _help_ people. They keep their work confidential. No one would know!" The woman argued.

"They would know. Unless you happen to wipe their memories. Still a no. Look, I have a squad to get back to. My second's probably getting a headache. I need to get back." Twitch stood and began walking toward the door.

"You _need _to leave the army." Tsudek snapped. The captain stopped and turned sharply, wearing a dangerous glare.

"You can say what you like, I am _never _doing that. Don't ask such a thing from me again."

"Why? Why won't you do it?" Saundra shouted. "Have you ever considered that maybe we don't want to lose our daughter?"

"I have!" Twitch yelled back. "But my brother has nearly died five times! And I have a squad of people that I do _not _want to leave. I won't abandon them! Civilian life doesn't suit me. I was always meant to be in the GAR, and I'll die as part of the GAR." With that, the soldier shoved on her boots and threw on her cloak before leaving.

* * *

><p>"Whoa, are you gonna kill somebody?" Read asked as Twitch stalked into the gym.<p>

"A punching bag." She replied, beelining for the black equipment without another word.

"She's pretty mad, isn't she?" Songbird hissed to the second.

"Yeah. Just needs to blow off steam, apparently. I wouldn't ask her about it. She doesn't usually let her emotions out like this."

"'Kay."

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ sorry, not a very interesting chapter. I'm trying to think of a good way to get things moving again. Kinda miss the Clone Wars now. Oops...<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Di'kut: [DEE-koot] idiot, fool, useless individual, waste of space (insulting or affectionate, depending on tone and context)**


	3. Undercover

_A.N. ~ I am **so** sorry for the wait! My writer's block is still present, so this chapter is short. But I at least have a bit of an idea of what'll happen next, so maybe (hopefully) things will start smoothing out soon. _

* * *

><p>"They want us to <em>what<em>?" Steam wasn't the only one having a hard time believing their newest mission.

"This is a joke, right? _Right_?!" Songbird asked.

"No joke. Don't worry, going undercover isn't that bad." Twitch promised.

"Not that bad? They want us to act like sweet little civilians!" Steam growled.

"Hey, some of us _were _civilians at some point or another. Not everything about it is sweet and innocent!" Rogue disregarded her usual silence to glare at the hotheaded clone, who seemed to lose her anger at that and quieted down.

"Look, this isn't just a job for kicks. Duchess Satine actually _does _need our help. And since she won't allow any older soldiers on planet, we're going in. She wants to know if the kids in school actually are up to something, so we're finding out."

"That means no weapons besides our bodies. No exceptions." Read added. Twitch removed her gauntlets, placing them in her storage locker along with her guns and belt.

"And," the captain picked up, "we'll be wearing civvy clothes. Hope you like grey."

A knock on the door caught their attention. Darys came in after being told to do so.

"I'm supposed to be going with you." He explained.

"Alright. We'll be splitting up and going to multiple schools in Sundari. No more than two girls per school. We can only stretch the excuse of sisters so far." Twitch finished. Everyone else disarmed themselves.

* * *

><p>When <em>Serenity <em>landed, transports were ready to take the soldiers to the schools they were attending. Songbird and Cheshire left together, then Read and Dream, Steam and Arrow, Rogue and Bucky, and Twitch and Darys.

"So, now I get to teach you how to be a civilian." The Umbaran joked as the speeder they were on zipped through the magnificent city.

"I guess you do. But know the difference between us here?" Twitch smirked when her friend shrugged. "I actually speak Mando'a." So did Cheshire and Songbird, but everyone else was still learning the language.

"You have me there. But at least you're human. I'm clearly not."

"If it helps any, you look more human than most Umbarans." That didn't seem to improve the older teenager's mood.

"My mother was human." He admitted.

"Okay, you're part human. Is that why you can actually stand a sunny day?" Darys nodded.

"It wasn't a good thing on Umbara." He murmured.

"Well, it's a good thing here. Don't worry. You've at least had real civilian experience. You have the advantage here."

"You make this sound like a battle." The Umbaran smiled.

"I do? Oh. Um, I'm going to have to completely change the way I talk, won't I?"

"Not completely. Just mostly."

* * *

><p>"Claws…Claws, come on, you haven't moved for two days! Claws!" Kat nudged her friend, trying to coax the nexu into activity. "Your cubs'll be fine. They've already started getting brown fur. Come on, they're as large as my torso!"<p>

The feline only growled and nosed her young. She'd not let them out of her sight once. A knock on the door startled the teenager.

"Come in!" She called. Ranger entered and raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"Uh, how is she?" He asked, kneeling down next to the girls.

"Stubborn. Won't move. Thinks her cubs shouldn't be left alone." The man stroked one of the small predators.

"Really? They're already pretty big. Aren't they alright to be left alone for a little while?"

"Apparently not. For the love of Force, get _up_!" Kat grabbed Claws' head and lifted it, but her friend shook her off and returned to her resting position.

"Is this normal?" Ranger backed off when the nexu actually tried hitting him with her tail. Apparently her usual affection for the trooper wasn't present with cubs.

"I looked up nexu pregnancies. The cubs can be left alone _any day now_." The last words were directed at Claws, who huffed and closed her eyes.

"Well, she won't be moving, but you should." The older soldier stood.

"I should stay with Claws."

"She's a gigantic, toothy predator that could eat someone in two bites. She'll be fine. Come on, I'm feeling lucky today. Bet I could take you in sparring." That got the teenager up and scowling.

"As if!"

* * *

><p>School was…interesting for the girls. They had to use pseudonyms, since their real names weren't exactly normal. Twitch had decided on 'Akinta', smirking to herself at the irony of it. Darys stayed with his usual name, since it actually <em>was <em>normal.

They, being the new kids, had plenty of attention directed at them. Apparently transfers weren't a common occurrence. The girls wasted no time showing Twitch around, asking about where she'd come from, what she liked to do, who her favorite holostar was, and so on.

Darys was at the end of many of the other boys' questions and speculations. He nearly punched one of the others when he asked about the Umbaran's relationship with Twitch.

Instead, he grumbled, "Why? Do you want to go out with her or something?"

"I wouldn't mind. She looks kinda cool." The boy replied.

"She isn't big on the whole dating thing." Darys shrugged.

* * *

><p>"So, that boy you came with? He's awfully pale. Not enough time outside?" One of the girls asked Twitch.<p>

"He's an Umbaran." The captain explained.

"Oh, really? Where's Umbara?" Another of the students frowned.

"Not sure. Never been there myself."

"Narir gar jorhaa'ir Mando'a?" A third teenager murmured.

"Elek." The soldier replied. "Though it isn't my first language."

"Uh, guys? Classes starting!" One of the girls alerted.

The rest of the day was spent in and out of differing subjects such as geography, history, and mathematics. Darys and Twitch met afterwards.

"I know it's early, but did you find anything out yet?" She asked.

"Besides that some of these kids need serious help, no." The captain smiled at what a Spitfire-like thing that was to say.

"Well, it's not going to be a fast process. We better get used to paying attention in class."

"Shoot me now."

The rest of the squad were having little success, though adjusting to school life, even if it had only been for half a day, was difficult for most of them. Rogue didn't mind. She'd gone to school for a couple years before Twitch had found her.

"This is insane. Tell me we can leave soon." Songbird grumbled to Cheshire.

"No idea. We leave when Twitch says we can, I guess."

* * *

><p>Claws finally began leaving her cubs for short periods of times, going to eat and exercise, or just take a walk with Kat, who was relieved her friend was taking care of herself again.<p>

"Don't you ever do that again, you furry di'kut." The teenager chastised. The nexu whipped her human counterpart with her tail, growling affectionately.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ sorry, I told you it wasn't long. I'll try getting more writing done, but no promises on a time frame. I never thought I'd say this, but I might just need to take a step back from the series for a little while. Sorry, guys.<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:  
><strong>

**Narir: [nah-REER] act, do, put (I underline the words I meant to use when there are instances like this)**

**Gar: [gahr] you (sing. and pl.)**

**Jorhaa'ir: [joh-har-EER] speak, talk**

**Elek: [EL-eck] yes (shortened to 'lek as 'yeah')**


	4. Too Tough

_A.N. ~ well, hopefully things will be better now, but really, where have we heard _that _before? Anyways, sorry for the wait._

* * *

><p>"Ai, ai aii. Six karkin' months and nothing. Looks like Tail finally got his wish, though." Twitch muttered to Darys as they walked toward their dorms.<p>

"Are we sure it's students doing this?" The Umbaran frowned.

"A few were caught, but they wouldn't give any names."

"Akinta! Akinta, I need to talk to you!" One of Twitch's classmates, Faiya, ran up, panting.

"What's wrong?" The captain had become the sort of go-to person among the students when something was off. Darys wasn't really comfortable when he got attention and directed anyone who came to him toward his friend.

"Meadow's still gone. She's been absent _two _days! And her parents haven't seen her! I told her not to go out, but she was insisting that Drew was up to something. Why did she have to follow him? I mean, it was probably nothing, just—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. Take a breath and start again." The soldier put a hand on the other girl's shoulder.

"Meadow saw Drew sneaking out every now and then. At first, she thought it was nothing, but then she decided to follow him three days ago, after classes. She hasn't been back since, and neither has Drew."

"Do you know where they might have gone?" Twitch asked, already walking quickly toward her quarters, followed by the other kids.

"There are some abandoned warehouses we used to go to when we were little." Faiya was pale and shaking, looking nearly ready to cry.

"Alright, where are they?" Darys murmured, gently putting an arm around the terrified girl's shoulders.

"I'll show you." The tremor in her voice stopped Twitch dead in her tracks and she turned sharply. The two other teenagers nearly collided, and the girls were inches apart.

"No, you need to tell us and stay here. Meadow is your friend, but right now you can't help her. Drew might be armed and I need clear heads."

"B-but how are you going to deal with him if he's got a weapon?" The civilian wailed.

"Girl scouts."

"Akinta!" Both Darys and Faiya snapped.

"Look, I've been in situations like this before. I can't explain, just trust me. Where are these warehouses?"

* * *

><p>"When are we gonna kill her, Drew? She's no use." Twitch and Darys were at the top of a pile of crates, hidden from the view of anyone on the ground. Meadow was tied to a chair, gagged, bloody, and silently crying. There were four teenagers besides Drew, all in traditional Mandalorian armor.<p>

"We'll kill her when I say so. I don't have to fight anyone else for the title of leader, do I?" The three other boys and girl backed up, shaking their heads.

"N-no, you're definitely the leader here." The girl gulped.

"Good. Now that that's been established, deal with the two snitches up there." Drew pointed to where the soldiers were. Twitch didn't waste any time jumping down and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the leader.

The remaining bullies moved to intervene, but Darys grabbed one's head and smashed it into his knee before kicking the second's and drawing the last couple away from the other fight.

"You're good." Drew grinned, holding his own against Twitch for the time being.

"This is me holding back." The captain hissed.

"That was what I was going to say."

"Well, by all means, let's put our all into this." She back-flipped the next blow before jumping up, swinging a spinning kick at her adversary's head. He blocked and threw a couple punches, both of which were ducked as the girl went into a bridge before springing off her hands and trying a turning kick.

Darys meanwhile had taken care of the two boys that had managed to hold him off for a little while. He grabbed their guns, taking the first couple's as well.

"Akinta, catch!" He called before tossing a couple of the weapons to her. She caught them and aimed at Drew, who pulled his firearms out as well.

"Heh, you're good, kid, but you're no Jango." The soldier smirked. "And clearly never had training. Self-taught?" Drew glared, eyes flicking toward Darys, then back to Twitch.

"And I suppose you _have_?" He asked casually.

"As a matter of fact, no, I haven't. But I have more experience than you."

"That a fact? Since you were eleven?"

"Ten, actually. But really, what were you doing to Meadow?"

"Torturing her, mostly." Darys backed away, taking cover while his friend and the delinquent circled.

"Torture? Pff, it looks like you've barely touched her!" Twitch pulled back one of her sleeves, revealing a multitude of varying marks. "_This _is what a real torturing looks like." While Drew was distracted by the ugly scars, the girl shot and jumped to the side at the same time, curling into a ball to roll as soon as three bolts had left her guns.

The leader fell, not dead, but with laser wounds to his left shoulder and right arm. Before he could do anything besides scream, Darys moved in and took his guns while Twitch untied Meadow.

"You _shot _him!" She sounded very close to panicking.

"He's only disabled for now. Better get him to the authorities before he recovers."

"Aren't you overestimating here? He's been _shot_!" The civilian growled.

"I've seen people with a lot more done to their bodies handle much more than being carried. Darys, take him. Meadow, do you know these people's names?" The girl nodded. "Good. We have to get going in case any more show up." Meadow tried standing, but was caught as her legs buckled by the captain, who promptly threw the other teenager over her shoulder as though she was a sack of potatoes. The Umbaran did the same with Drew.

"I-I'm as heavy as you are!" Meadow grunted while they ran.

"I'm used to carrying heavy things. How badly do you think you're hurt?"

"Don't know. The worst that's ever happened to me before was a broken arm." The teenagers cleared the building, beelining for the nearest place where Drew could be contained.

A few hours later found the leader in a cell and a medic taking care of Meadow while Twitch and Darys talked to a peacekeeper.

"Good work, you two. We'll take it from here. Better get back to school." The man said.

"I'd rather stay with Meadow for the walk home. She shouldn't be out alone with a bunch of warrior wannabes running around." Twitch shook her head.

"That girl is in rough shape! She won't be going to school for days!" The officer seemed mortified.

"How's she hurt?" Darys crossed his arms.

"Bruised ribs, fractured nose, cuts and bruising all over her body and the emotional trauma of being kidnapped and beaten." The peacekeeper listed.

"So what's your point? She'll be sore, but lying around won't make her feel any better." The Umbaran scowled.

"'Rough shape' is when you have multiple broken bones. She's just scuffed up." Twitch watched the horrified expression on the man's face with bemusement.

"You must've led either terribly rough or soft lives to say that. I have to go. Get back to school." The officer left.

"Civvies are so weird." Twitch sighed as she and her friend walked out of the building.

"Hey, you're used to being injured. Meadow's never been beaten before. Imagine if someone you've known for years kidnaps you and beats you." Darys defended.

"Story of my life, genius. Dooku, remember?"

"And say you're used to a generally gentle, non-violent life."

"Okay, that makes it worse. Honestly, I can't muster any pity for her if she's going to take time off her usual routine over this. Just too used to people being hurt like that to really take note of it, I guess."

"You're too tough for your own good sometimes." The older teenager's arm brushed hers and he jumped away nearly three feet, eyes wide. Twitch smiled and patted his shoulder before slinging an arm over it in a friendly manner, giving the Umbaran a pleasant surprise.

"No threats over physical contact?" He tentatively put his arm around the girl's shoulders.

"Maybe I'm just going soft from being around all these civilians." The captain gave a small smile. Darys noticed her right hand toying with something around her neck.

"What's that?" He gestured to it.

"Hmm? Oh, Tail's tag. We traded and said we lost our original ones, but it was against regs, so don't tell anyone." There was that mischievous smirk the older teenager had become used to.

"I won't. So he has your tag and you have his. You got replacements, though?"

"We _did_ say they got lost. Not too unbelievable." It was brief, but Darys didn't miss the flash of something like sorrow on his friend's face. She was likely missing her brother. He pulled her closer, and tensed as she did before they both relaxed.

"Y—" The sound of a fired shot sounded and the Umbaran fell with a shout, grabbed by Twitch as she dragged him into the cover of an alleyway.

"Where did it hit you?" She asked.

"Rrrgh, my karkin' leg. AH!" The cry came when Twitch touched the spot with her hand. It was on his calf, not a full-on hit, but still a good enough one to hurt.

"Stay here while I deal with the sniper." The captain ordered.

"What makes you think that was a sniper?" He grit his teeth.

"Sound of the gun firing." With that, the girl slipped into the shadows, disappearing quickly. Darys waited in tense silence, holding his breath at every little sound. His fingers gripped over the wound in his leg, but blood was slipping through and forming a warm, thick puddle under his bent legs.

After several painstaking minutes, Twitch returned, startling the other soldier as she appeared out of nowhere.

"Did you get him?" The wounded kid panted.

"Scared him off. He was one of the kids from the grade above ours. Gonna have to keep an eye out. For now, let's get back to the barrack—ah, er the school."

"Six months and you still talk like a soldier." Darys tried smiling, but just ended up cursing as his friend helped him up, supporting the weight on his right side.

"Can't turn it off. The army is in my blood."

* * *

><p>"Ah!"<p>

"What happened?" Faiya and the other girl who shared a room with Twitch and Meadow stood, startled by Darys' yelp. The two soldiers came in, one supporting the other.

"Some insane shabuir shot him and ran off." The captain grunted, unloading her friend on her bed before grabbing the first aid kit that was standard issue for each student dorm.

"Did you find Meadow?" Faiya asked.

"Yeah, she's safe." Twitch scowled at the contents of the kit. Bacta, bacta patches, all items required for stitches, and bandages were there among other things. "Darys, this won't be comfortable. Lift your pant leg."

"Whoa, whoa, wait. You're treating a gun wound? Shouldn't we be getting someone like a doctor or the school nurse?" Hanna, the second girl, grabbed the veteran's shoulder.

"No, we shouldn't." The soldier shook her off and knelt in front of where the Umbaran was sitting, examining the bloody hole.

"But he's been shot!" Faiya put a hand over her mouth.

"Partially shot. It's only a bad graze. Didn't even hit him full on."

"Um, Akinta, a little too tough." Darys hissed.

"Y-you're insane…" Hanna watched with wide eyes and a pale face while the blood was cleaned away, bacta was applied, and a bacta patch was wrapped over the injury.

"There. It's rough, but you'll be fine. The shot didn't hit anything serious." Twitch put away the kit, ignoring the stares of the other girls.

"He's been _shot_!" Faiya loudly reminded.

"Yes, that's been established. What's your point?" The boy started saying something with an expression showing he was likely going to correct the hardened girl, but her glare shut him up.

"W-well…he's been shot." She repeated.

"Look, all getting shot is is being severely burned in a specific location of your body. It hurts like haran, but if you take it in the leg, you're not going to die."

"It _does_ hurt." Darys added.

"Oh, go to bed." The captain's high-pitched, dismissively teasing tone got him up and the older teenager limped out. "Oh, and you might not want to tell anyone what happened." She called after him.

"Y-you're really mean." Faiya tried taking up a disapproving air, but her bewilderment and frayed nerves just made her sound hysterical.

"He's going to have to be hurt a lot worse than a graze for me to baby him." Twitch yanked off her boots and crawled into bed, wincing at one of the bruises Drew had managed to give her.

"Don't pretend other people's pain doesn't matter! You're acting like someone has to be dying to be important. I bet you think that everyone who feels pain is a wuss, while you've never even been hurt that bad!" Hanna shouted.

Twitch sat up so quickly that the other girls backed up. "You shouldn't bet on what you don't know about." She stated darkly.

"I _do_ know because I've been around you for _six months_!" Hanna growled, stalking closer to the soldier.

"You've never felt real pain, so don't start criticizing me about what I should and should not be upset over."

"Oh, what happened, did you get a splinter?" The angered teenager rolled her eyes. Twitch drew her sleeve back and watched with a hardened gaze as her classmates stared.

"Go to bed, Hanna." The captain lay down, hiding her scars under the blankets.

"H-how did you get those?!" Faiya looked sick.

"Ever heard the phrase 'not your business'?" Twitch muttered.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ I'll get the next chapter up ASAP.<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Shabuir: [SHAH-boo-EER] extreme insult (jerk, but much stronger)**

**Haran: [HAH-rahn] hell (literally destruction, cosmic annihilation)**


	5. Faces

"Are you sure you've got all of them?" Twitch asked the chief officer.

"Definitely," he nodded. "We're certain they're all here." The captain narrowed her eyes, looking down the hallway of the prison doubtfully.

"Seems just about too perfect. No loose ends or issues? Something's off."

"Well, you must not get very much good news." They began walking, passing cells filled with people of varying ages, genders, and species.

"Good news like the stuff you're telling me gives me headaches. On a different note, is my squad back yet?"

"Yes. They're waiting outside." The two left the building, finding eight girls and one boy all gathered, talking and roughhousing.

"Hey! Finally, we can get off this rock and go hunting!" Steam greeted her captain with all her usual attitude.

"Heh, easy, Steam, some genuine Mandos are present." Twitch smiled with a sigh as Songbird and Cheshire punched the hothead's arms.

"Jerk, what about our home being a rock?" Song grinned.

"I _knew_ you were born under a rock! Ha!" Steam laughed.

"Yeah, if _I_ was born under a rock, _you_ were born in a cave. Sure act like it."

"Hey, did anyone see that?" Dream broke the joking and everyone instantly became silent, looking around nervously.

"There! I saw something!" Bucky pointed.

"That's a rock, genius." Arrow smacked her little sister's head.

"Wait, yeah, there's someone moving in the shadows." Cheshire murmured. Twitch saw the flash of light on a T shaped visor. It wasn't like a clone one.

"Mandalorian armor." The captain alerted. "Take cover." Everyone collectively spread to different places, either behind the nearby pair of benches or the doorway or the decorative boulders that dotted the place, scrambling as shooting broke out.

"Kriff! We need weapons!" Steam yelled at the chief.

"Need to get inside to get them." He replied.

"So _get them_." Read grabbed his shoulders and they sprinted toward the doors, dodging bolts like headless nunas.

"We're going to be dead by the time they get back, aren't we?" Songbird sighed to Twitch.

"It's a possibility. Chesh?" The eleven-year-old shook her head. Disappearing didn't work with gunfire blazing and multiple enemies with highly advanced helmets watching you.

In around ten minutes, all spent with the girls and boy dodging and ducking bolts, Read and the officer appeared with packs full of guns and ammo.

"Aim for their shoulders and knees. Try not to kill anybody!" Twitch ordered, grabbing a pair of pistols.

"It's hard to tell with all the people trying to kill us, but I think there are fifteen!" Dream called.

"Okay, take 'em out!" They collectively stood from cover and opened fire, hitting five of the dark-armored aggressors and scaring off three more, all of whom were hit in the legs. Arrow seemed to be having bad luck with hitting anything, used to her bow. Thankfully, Cheshire was across the battlefield, too busy to comment.

It didn't take long for the attacking force to be neutralized. As Twitch looked around, she blanched at the sight of a sniper on a nearby roof, aiming straight at them. Anyone could be hit. The captain saw the movement of his trigger hand and brought up her gun, firing without hesitation.

The bolt hit the sniper's head, ending his life and drawing everyone's attention. The veteran cursed, looking down and trying to suppress her self-loathing. She just killed someone probably not graduated from school.

"I saw what was happening. You didn't have time to react differently." Dream murmured, putting a hand on her leader's shoulder.

"Yeah, sure. Everyone head back to _Serenity_. I'll be there in a few hours."

* * *

><p><em>I had to kill him. He was going to shoot one of the others. There was no other time. Come on, Twitch, it's no different from killing an Umb — <em>The captain abruptly stopped her chain of thought, remembering Darys' face when she had killed the Umbaran rebels.

"I robbed other families of loved ones, too. Species makes no difference." She murmured, stopping at the door of a quaint little house. The soldier hesitated, trying to suppress her guilt-filled emotions, or at least getting a reign on them, before knocking.

"One moment!" A woman called.

"Mom, mom! Can I get the door?" A young boy's voice startled Twitch. She resigned herself to trudging through the next rest of the week.

The door opened, showing a woman and small boy with blond hair and brown eyes. He was skinny, looking to be about seven.

"Mrs. Chongen?" The commando asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" The woman seemed kind, with a gentle smile and eyes that had a slightly lighter shade than her son's. The same color as Tail's. Twitch's throat tightened and she felt an ache in the back of it.

_No, no, not now! I can't cry here!_ The ache spread and choked her voice, and she swallowed after the first couple attempts at speech, remaining silent until she managed to hold back the ache.

"You've heard about the New Deathwatch?" After a nod, the girl continued. "Your son was part of it. There was a fight and he was a sniper."

"Oh my Force! Did he kill anyone? Eli, get down here!" A man with dark curly hair and a small forest of stubble on his cheeks ran over.

"What's wrong?" He immediately put an arm around the woman's shoulders.

"Mark was a Deathwatch sniper." Eli looked sharply to Twitch.

"Where is he?"

"Why did they send a young girl to tell us this?" The parents looked like Tsudek and Saundra when they fretted over Twitch leaving the army and she met their eyes again, biting her cheek until she tasted blood.

"He was shot before he could kill anyone. I'm sorry, he isn't coming home." A sob from the wife made the soldier cringe.

"Did you kill him? Is that why an officer isn't here instead?" The man's voice tremored.

"Yes. I saw him aiming at one of the others and reacted before he did. I am so, _so_ sorry."

"You killed him! You killed Mark!" The little boy tackled Twitch's legs, tripping her up until she fell backwards. Unfortunately, they were close to a railing and went over the edge, the child still holding onto the captain's legs. His and his mother's screams pierced the night, but thankfully, the teenager caught hold of the pole with her left hand, dangling them over a drop that would surely kill them.

"Kid, grab my hand!" Twitch grunted, reaching for the child.

"No! You'll just let me fall!" He wailed.

"This isn't up for debate, kid. Give me your hand _now_!" The boy reached up and his forearm was grabbed by the soldier's free hand, which led to her pulling him up to the waiting hands of his father, who, once he had his child safely in the arms of his mother, hauled the girl up as well.

"Why?" The seven-year-old sobbed. "Why did you kill him?" The thought of Aris broke Twitch and tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked down.

"I was protecting my sisters. And I wish it hadn't happened like this. I'm so sorry. So sorry. I'm sorry." She knelt and looked into the child's tear-streaked face. "And what I did is inexcusable. The lives of civilians _always _come before soldiers. I shouldn't have fired first."

"Soldiers?" Eli asked shakily.

"My sisters and I are members of the GAR. We were on Mandalore, undercover in the schools to find students in the new Deathwatch. We thought we'd caught all of them, but we missed sixteen, your son included."

"I'll never forgive you for this. Never!" The child shouted.

"I understand. If someone did this to my brother, I'd hate them, too." The wife was crying, punctuating the night with high-pitched, sharp intakes of breath.

"Is this the first time you've killed?" Eli spat, gritting his teeth.

"No. No, I've killed more people than I can count."

"Do you regret it? Or do you see it as just you defending yourself and the other people you were with?" The disgust in the man's voice wasn't disguised.

"At first, yes, I only saw the enemy as faceless. They were just more people that had sided with the Separatists that were shooting at us. But now I don't see them that way. They have faces, and names, and families that are grieving because I pulled a trigger."

"How can you live with yourself? How can't you call yourself a monster?" The woman demanded through her tears.

"Actually, I do see myself as a monster. I'm just an attack dog that is let off its leash to do whatever its masters tell it to. As for living with myself, I do so because for every family that I hurt in the Clone Wars, I protected another. I'm not even that alive anymore, really." The parents stared with cold eyes at the captain.

"Why didn't you aim at Mark's hand, or his gun, or _something_ besides what would kill him?" The father looked away from Twitch's face.

"I have no excuse. I let instinct guide me when I should have kept a cool head." The wife finally lost her last scrap of self-control and slapped the soldier. Twitch's head snapped to the side and she remained like that for a short while, listening to the sounds of mourning.

"You didn't have to come here, did you?" Eli muttered.

"No."

"Just go. Get away from us." The woman swiped at the teenager again, and the soldier stood, walking away without attempting to wipe away the tears slipping down her face. When alone, crying was a relief to Twitch. She spent so much time suppressing her emotions and impulses that letting them spill over was a good pain.

_I'm a monster. A lifeless monster that has put so many other families like Mark's into grieving. The enemy has a face. They all have faces._

* * *

><p>The return to Naboo in <em>Serenity<em> was quiet, mainly the squad and Darys were resting after months of sleepless nights filled with work or school things. Twitch hadn't said a word since she returned and took the pilot's seat, not indulging her second's attempts at conversation.

When they landed, everyone went their separate ways, most to the gym, Mess Hall, or quarters. The captain left to report to High Command, got her weapons, then slinked off to a set of large, thirty-foot-high poles that were large enough for her to sit on. From that vantage point, she could see an expanse of Theed.

_Tail's not on leave. Wonder if he's alright…_ she felt strangely numb to the thought of her brother-by-choice being hurt. That wasn't right, and she knew it. But she didn't care about that, either. The girl wrapped her fingers around her brother's dog tag, toying with the metal indifferently.

A cold laugh instantly had her on guard, standing with her guns in hand and gauntlets unsheathed. A shadowy figure slithered up a nearby pole and sat casually on it.

"Despair-class. Nice to meet you. I'm your executor." Twitch droned, firing a couple shots into the beast's head. It vaporized, but reappeared on the post next to where it had been hit.

"Oh, so eager to kill already? What about my family? Are you going to hurt them like you did with Mark's?"

"Telepathy? How cute." The girl put up her mental barriers, sitting down with her back to the monster.

"Oh, but I can still hear you. Such a monster, Twitch. All those families you've hurt. Oh, and let's not forget about those clones you killed on Umbara. Bet their brothers-by-choice were miserable. Their whole squads, in fact."

"So all you're going to do is recite the obvious until you talk me to death? Would you mind killing me faster? I hate listening to other people babble."

"Bet you'd like to hear little Aris babbling again, wouldn't you?" The child in question's laugh filled the soldier's head.

"Shut. Up." Twitch shot at the demon, but it only came back a few seconds later.

"I see you care about family. I wonder if the families whose members you've killed were as hurt as you were when Aris died, or when your squad was killed. How about when you thought you'd lost Tail?"

"Get out of my head before I decide that I don't care if laser bolts don't work on you."

"Temper, temper. Don't you already not care, though? Why do you even care if you live or not?"

"Yeah, look. One of your buddies tried killing Tail, and know what we did? We killed him. Now unless you want me to make you disappear permanently, I suggest you take a hike. Really, why don't you go poke a vixus or something?"

"You may as well have fed Aris to a vixus."

"That's it. When I die, I am going to haunt you. Consider your shebs haunted. Not one decent sleep for the rest of your life. Assuming you outlive me." Twitch glared with crossed arms while the demon grinned.

"Will you kill yourself?"

"Go away."

"Pleeeaaase?"

"No."

"Please?"

"Say 'pretty please'."

"Pretty please."

"With a cherry on top."

"With a cherry on top."

"Happy birthday. Now get out of my sight." Now the monster was glaring while the girl smirked. "I'll save you time and warn you that even if I'm depressed beyond belief, I'm not doing it. Have fun wasting your breath."

"Then I'll just force you to do it." The beast started stalking toward the teenager, who sighed and shot him again. He just came from behind and entered her body.

* * *

><p><em>Ah, kriff. You aren't going to be moving my body any time soon, jerk. Get out before I start humming the most annoying songs you've ever heard, <em>Twitch growled.

_Annoying how?_ They were in a black room, just like the one Tail had been in at _Mainframe_.

_'Drunken soldier' annoying. Ever heard Zeta Squad singing together after a long night at 79's? Well…Streak and Hazard singing. Tail passed out before they started, the lucky di'kut. _The two stared at each other before sighing.

_Look, just give me control and I'll make you jump head first off the post. No harm, no foul. _

_'No harm', huh? Riiight. Go away, demon._

_Oh, so _I'm _a demon? That's the Hutt calling the Gamorrean fat, buddy._ They paused, scowling at each other before sighing.

_We're at a stalemate, aren't we? _Twitch groaned.

_Yeeeup. So will you kill yourself?_

_NO!_

* * *

><p>"Hey, Twitch. What's new?" Read looked up, then yelped and backed up.<p>

"Will you kill yourself?"

"No."

"Will you kill yourself?"

"No.

"Will you _please _kill yourself?"

"Kriff it, Ryuk, I said _NO_!" The captain turned, slicing her hand downwards.

"Twitch! What the fek!" Read raised her gun.

"Save your ammo. I wasted twenty-six bolts on him." The veteran sighed.

"Twenty-_seven_." Ryuk corrected.

"Oh, shut up."

"He…what the fek!?" The second stared.

"Ryuk, this is Read, my second. Read, meet the worst Despair-class you'll ever see. Please feel free to think of some way to kill him." The three remained silent for a little while, looking back and forth at each other.

Eventually, the demon spoke. "Read, will you—"

"Don't start with me." She cut off, starting to tidy up her storage locker and bunk.

"So, how long before you give up?" The captain mumbled, starting to follow her friend's lead and neaten her possessions.

"Mmm, when you're dead. Hey, can I ask one of your friends—"

"Don't bother."

"Man," Ryuk sighed, "you people are boring."

"Twitch!"

"Whoa!"

"What the…" Steam, Bucky, and Arrow stopped in the doorway.

"Guys, Ryuk. Ryuk, guys. You can handle introductions."

"If I don't get you, what you call a Rage-class will." The demon predicted.

"Great, then I can add someone _else_ to the circus. When will you shut up?" The two squared off.

"When I want to, brat."

"Miscreant!"

"Stubborn jerk!"

"Windbag!"

"Guys! Grief, you sound like an old married couple!" Steam shouted, interrupting them.

"Somebody _please_ tell me there's a way to kill or muzzle Despair-class idiots." Twitch growled.

"You're usually the one who knows those things." Arrow shrugged.

"Twiiitch!" A male clone groaned in the doorway.

"Hi, Rex. You don't happen to know a way to kill him, do you?" The younger captain crossed her arms, leaning away as Ryuk stepped toward her.

"Aw, talking about killing me with me standing right here? How rude!" The demon sniffed.

"You've been asking me to kill myself for an hour. You've got nothing to complain about." Twitch retorted testily.

"Twitch, explain." Rex reminded.

"He followed me home. Can we kill him?"

"She's a sweet kid, you know that?" Ryuk couldn't have sounded more sarcastic if he tried.

"Agh, only you could get in such a weird mess." The blond man muttered.

"See? Nobody likes you! Will you die now?"

"Ryuk, you are one sentence away from me ripping out your vocal cords." Twitch sounded nearly homicidal.

"Yep, Rage-class probably already has you." The teenager's hand shot to grab the demon's neck, and she surprisingly got ahold of him.

"Huh. Guess you can't disappear like usual unless I kill you. That makes this a whole lot more bearable." Strangled noises came from the beast and he tried prying away the furious soldier's fingers with minimal luck.

"So, wait, you can grab something that's made of shadow? Cool!" Bucky grinned.

"Buck, you are a fekkin' idiot." Steam mumbled.

"You're just mad 'cause I thought of it first."

"No, I'm pretty sure Twitch thought of it first when she started choking Ryuk.

"I'm almost over you bringing a demon home. Just keep choking him a few more seconds." Rex couldn't help but smile.

"Gladly. So, Ryuk, are you going to learn to shut up now?"

"Rgh…ack!"

"I'll take that as a no."

"I can't believe I willingly joined this army." Songbird rolled her eyes in the doorway, followed by Cheshire, Rogue, and Dream. The entire squad was present.

"Are you kidding? This is probably better than anything else we've seen in our lives." Steam smirked, crossing her arms and watching the show.

"Hey, Twitch? I'm all for you killing a demon, but I think you might actually attract a Rage-class if you don't ease up." Read warned. The captain let the beast go and he collapsed to the floor, coughing and gagging.

"A pile of shadows needs to breathe. Go figure." She put her hands on her hips.

"Twitch? Twitch, I have something I need to tell you before I go." Ryuk panted, moaning dramatically.

"What is it?" She sounded less than sympathetic.

"Will you die with me?"

"Oh, hurry up and stop breathing."

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ brownie points to anyone who got the Farscape reference. Aaand for those of you who've watched Death Note, you've probably recognized Ryuk's name. I like indulging in multiple fandoms. Anyway, I'm almost finished with Chapter Six! :)<br>_


	6. Cute

"Will you—"

"Ryuk! If you do not _shut up_ in _five __**seconds**_, I am going to choke you again!" Twitch glared at the demon, earnestly wishing she could kill him for good. He remained silent after that, just following her through the Military District without even a whisper of footsteps when he moved.

They stopped in front of the Mess Hall. "Okay, this is the line. You are _not_ coming in this room with me. And as old as this is getting, I will choke you if you do. Got it?"

"Awww."

"Just go play outside or something." The captain sighed and stalked into the Mess Hall, looking over her shoulder to be sure the beast wasn't trailing. Tup and Dogma were at a table and the tear-drop-marked trooper waved the girl over once she had gotten her food.

"Hey, short stuff. What's new?" Tup greeted.

"Did you know that Despair-classes can stink at their jobs?" The men shook their heads.

"Twitch, mind putting that fork in your throat?" Ryuk appeared beside the teenager and she grabbed his neck, tightening her grip so he couldn't speak.

"Yeah, well, they exist." The demon struggled, trying to get free. "If I let you go, will you leave or will I have to drag you out of here?" The monster waved frantically toward the door and Twitch let him go. He stumbled out, hacking and cussing between breaths.

"You can actually grab them?" Dogma stared.

"Apparently. Amazing what you can accomplish when you wish something would curl up and die."

"How long has he been bugging you?" Tup asked.

"Since yesterday. And he _won't shut up_!"

"And there's no way to kill him?" Dogma looked doubtful.

"Not quite sure yet. I was going to take a look at the databases after breakfast. That's assuming I can read with someone jabbering in my ear."

"Hmm, so he doesn't possess you and try to make you die then?" Fives' close brother frowned.

"Oh, he tried. He's just bad at his job." They ate quietly after that, then no one got up.

"So has he bothered trying with someone else in your squad?" The by-the-book man glanced across the room to where Cheshire and Songbird were eating.

"He gets a couple words in edgewise before they tell him to go away, or not try, or start shouting abuse in Mando'a. He's really as threatening as an Anooba with no claws or teeth."

"And apparently just as defenseless. His only weapons are words." Tup seemed to be only half paying attention, mostly lost in thought.

"So basically, he has no weapons." Dogma reasoned, surprising the others.

"I'm confused. That was a good joke." Tup exchanged a look with his sister.

"I know."

"But…it came from Dogma."

"I know! I think the world is ending."

"Do you two _want _to discourage me?" Dogma growled.

"No!" They seemed incapable of more than short bouts of speech at once.

* * *

><p>Kat stretched beside Claws, just out of the <em>Hunter<em> and on the docks of Naboo. The cubs were nearly through adolescence, but were still only a third of the adult nexu's size.

"You're ready to let them go, huh?" The teenager rubbed her friend's head and she purred, licking one of the small, prickly predators. Unlike their mother, they had spines on their backs like most of their kind, not affected by the same birth defect as Claws.

"It's like walking through a forest of spikes." Ranger commented, picking his way past the wrestling cubs carefully. "Ow!"

"Yeah, try sleeping with them in the same room at night. One thinks my feet moving under the blanket are prey." The smallest, least aggressive of the young nexus walked over the male clone and squawked curiously. He knelt and stroked the small animal, letting it nuzzle his hand.

"Well, for animals with four eyes and a mouthful of teeth, they _are_ kinda cute." The small cub scrambled clumsily onto the soldier's knee, putting its paws on his shoulders before rubbing its face against his bucket.

"I think she really likes you. Maybe you should keep her." Just as Ranger began shaking his head, the young feline crawled completely on his shoulders, unbalancing him and tumbling them over. The cub began kneading Ranger's chest before curling up on him and purring as she partially closed her eyes.

"So do you think she'll forgive me if I move her?" Kat shook her head.

"Nah, I think you're stuck there. Unless you want to break her sweet little heart." The teenager knelt and began stroking her companion's child's back, carefully avoiding the sharp spines.

"Okay, now you're starting to sound like a—er, like aaa…." The soldier trailed off under his sister's glare.

"Like a what?" She asked slowly; threateningly.

"Um, ah…nothing! Nothing."

"Liike a _girl,_ perhaps? Strangely, I happen to be one." Her voice remained slightly higher and softer than usual. That softness was what scared the man.

"Umm…hey, Claws, mind saving me from your friend?" The parent huffed, turning her back to him while reigning in the four other charges.

"I'll let you live. You can still get up, though. She won't bite through your armor or anything." Ranger had to use his arms to get himself up, tumbling off the cub who growled indignantly before rubbing against him.

"Hai, how heavy are they already?"

"Oh, 'bout eighty pounds. When they're full grown, nearly five hundred."

"Greeaat…"

Twitch bumped into a small nexu just outside her squad's quarters. It sniffed her leg before rubbing its head against it.

"Hey, little guy. Where's your mom? Oh, crap! Where's your mom's friend?" Someone tackled the captain just then, rolling them over and over before they separated.

"Hi, Twitch. The cubs are big enough to leave Claws now. You and your squad can have four." Kat grinned, wiggling her fingers so the cub ran to her.

"Great! Wait, what happened to the fifth?" The two stood up, one wincing at the bruises she still felt from Mandalore.

"Oh, she and Ranger get along really well. That was the only female in the litter, too. Ladies man." They grinned, but the higher-ranked one groaned as a group of shadows appeared.

"Hey, Twitch, will you—ohh, it's cute!" Ryuk knelt and put a hand out to pet the young animal, which growled and bit his hand. "Oww!" The demon backpedaled, clutching his injured extremity.

"Haha! Good job, kid! Keep going! Sic' him!" The captain urged.

"Twitch, what is going on?" Kat snapped, guns raised.

"You can't permanently kill him with guns. He'll just vaporize and reappear. This is Ryuk, the least effective Despair-class you'll ever meet."

"And you can't kill him?" The other girl hissed.

"I spent all of yesterday researching ways I could. Nada. But he can be physically harmed." Another screech from the beast emphasized her words. The cub was running after him, slashing and biting. "Can I keep that one? I really, reeaaally like him."

"Yeah, I think that's a great idea. What'll you name him?"

"Not sure yet. I'll figure out a name when I get to know him better." Claws appeared, leading along three roughhousing, growling cubs that were fighting as they walked.

"Well, the big problem here is that there are three cubs, but eight other girls in your squad. Oh, crap."

"Let the battles begin…wait, don't the cubs choose who they want to be with?" They exchanged looks, then jumped at a particularly pitiful wail from Ryuk.

"Yeah, that's usually how things work. Claws met me and we couldn't afford her, so we left, but then the owner said she attacked every customer she met until he gave her to me for free. Nexus are very stubborn on who they want to spend their lives with."

"This'll be interesting. Ryuk, we might have three more like that one moving in. You sure you don't want to run before they turn you into a scratching post?"

"Only if you're going to—"

"Okay, we'll use you for attack training." The demon sighed, disappearing when the small feline bit his neck. "I reeaally like nexus."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, spending a while around skrills made Songbird and Cheshire very ideal choices for one of the cubs, who made it unclear whether one of the two girls specifically was his choice or if he liked both of them.<p>

Read and Arrow also got off well with the remaining cubs, leaving a few jealous but understanding squad mates to accept that they didn't get to have vicious, sharp pets.

"Ow!" Ryuk groaned.

"You know, this is really, really great." Arrow smiled. "Okay, bud. See that shadowy guy? Get him!" Strangely enough, the predator didn't obey. "Come on, he's a pain in the shebs! You just have to bite or claw him." The cub yawned and lay down.

"You're gonna have to earn his trust before he's going to do anything. He chose you, but he doesn't completely believe you're safe to be around." Kat explained.

"Soo…how do I do that?" The younger soldier frowned.

"Heck if I know. I still don't understand why Claws trusts me." The mother purred and nosed her human counterpart affectionately. "Oh, that's comforting. Thanks."

"What?" Bucky tried petting the mother, but she snapped at the thirteen-year-old.

"She's just saving me for when there's no food, apparently. Nice to know." Read grinned from where she was with her new companion, stroking the small animal and playing with him.

"Well, nice knowing ya." The second said.

"Ha, ha. Suure."

"So, your name is Kat? Would you mind—"

"Claws, please demonstrate to Ryuk why I named you that." The nexu began stalking toward the demon, who backed up with his hands raised.

"Heh, ah, nice kitty." He gulped. The feline roared and leaped on top of him, digging in her claws and biting at his neck.

* * *

><p>"So, you were actually hunting bounty hunters for the last few months?" Twitch and Kat were in the Mess Hall with their nexus, catching up.<p>

"Yeah. Kind of ironic since we're usually the ones at the other ends of the guns, so to speak. I'm still so glad that Bane's already dead. Putting up with him is a pain."

"Don't have to tell me twice. Honestly, who tries catching their bounty on Hoth?"

"Or Mustafar." They shrugged and continued eating, but the small feline was trying to take some of the captain's food.

"Trust me, you don't want it. We can go hunt later." But the cub refused to leave her alone, so the soldier scooped some of the whitish paste off her tray and let it fall into the waiting mouth of the animal. He swallowed, then gagged and growled. "Told you you wouldn't like it."

"Well, now he's going to be afraid of mess hall food forever." Kat grinned.

"Probably." Ryuk met them outside the room, but quickly left after a few growls from Claws and her cub.

"Well, do you want to go hunting? Nexus aren't patient when they're hungry."

* * *

><p>"Titan-class. Wonderful." Twitch muttered, preparing her guns beside Kat.<p>

"How did that even appear in the city?" The other teenager growled.

"No idea. And I don't have my cloak, either."

"And we're lacking in rocket launchers or explosives of any kind. Wait." She pulled out the tibanna gas cartridge of one of her guns. "Think you're a good enough shot?"

"Think you've got a good enough arm? I'm no sniper." The captain reminded. "We're going to need some back up for this one. I never said that, by the way."

"Then who did? 'Cause I definitely didn't!"

"Just say Claws did." The nexu swatted her companion's sister with her tail. Twitch turned on her comm, switching to her squad's channel. "Guys? Need you up in Ruby District. Bring thermal dets, your usual weapons, and good aim. We've got a Titan-class griever to deal with. Oh, and could somebody grab my cloak please?"

On Kat and Twitch's end, they spent fifteen minutes shooting at the beast, shouting at it, and trying not to die. On the squad's end, they were scrambling around, getting what they needed and running for the door. By the time they met, the two that had already been fighting were fairly tired.

"Oh, so that is a Titan-class. It's kind of big." Bucky stared curiously at the monster.

"No duh, genius. Twitch, what's the plan?" Steam asked.

"I'm going to fly up the dets and someone else and you guys are going to try and keep that thing from moving away from here. We want to keep the damage to a minimum and civvies alive. In less glorified wording, keep it busy." She said while putting on her cloak.

"I'll go with you!" Bucky volunteered.

"Actually, Chesh is the lightest, so she is. Get ready while I pick up momentum." The veteran began scaling a building, using the stonework around the windows until she was high enough before jumping off, grabbing the leather straps in her cloak, making the material stiff so it became a wingsuit.

In a minute, she was swooping down toward where the smaller clone was ready, a pack slung over her shoulders. Cheshire jumped up and grabbed Twitch's waist, the same way Kat had once at _Mainframe_.

"Twitch, are you sure about this?" The eleven-year-old's voice had a slight tremor.

"Yeah. Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll make sure you get out of this in one piece." They landed roughly on the griever's back, quickly scrambling out of the tail's way before starting to run to each leg, planting two detonators per limb. The girls placed four at the tail's base. They began running, the captain jumping first before looping back so her subordinate could jump on her back.

They landed moments before the bombs went off and the squad began running, looking over their shoulders to see if the beast was going to land on any of them.

"Haha! Yes! Hey, so now that we've made it immobile, how the fek are we supposed to kill it?" Kat laughed.

"I'm sure those officers will want to handle it. Might as well let them save some dignity." Read shrugged. The monster collapsed, stopping the girls and surprising the men in uniforms.

"I'm going to go see if anyone was hurt." Twitch mumbled, starting to jog toward the griever.

"Hey," the second hurried to keep pace with her friend, "why so concerned?"

"There are some people in this district I know. I just want to see if they're alright." They made it near the beast before an officer stopped them.

"No farther, kids. This thing is still alive." He warned.

"We know. We're the ones who did this. Look, the only thing we want to know is if anyone got hurt." The veteran growled.

"_You're_ the ones who took down a Monster-class—"

"_Titan_-class." Read and her superior interrupted.

"You're just kids."

"And you're just late. We'll be out of your hair as soon as you answer the question." Twitch promised.

"No, there weren't any casualties. Now get." The teenagers rolled their eyes and began strolling away, muttering to each other about what a jerk that officer had been and whether they should have believed him or not.

"He was telling the truth about no one being hurt. But I'd love to punch him, anyway." Read hissed.

"No kidding. I'd help with that."

"I could always be of assistance." Ryuk appeared.

"Yeah, no. Your 'assistance' wouldn't do much good." Twitch mumbled.

"I could always kill him." The demon offered.

"No, you couldn't. And don't take that as a challenge. You aren't allowed to try taking anyone's life." The beast groaned.

"No fun."

"Twitch, that crazy lady over there is freaking out!" Bucky stumbled to her captain, pointing to a woman who was looking the squad over in bewilderment.

"That's not a crazy lady. That's Saundra!" The teenager ran to stop Steam, who seemed to be building up to an explosion. "Saundra, what're you doing here?" The wife looked up and sighed in relief.

"You're Twitch, right?" She checked.

"Yes. And apparently, you've met my squad."

"And the girl not in your squad. And your nexu and my nexu." Kat added. Claws was protectively standing between her cub and Mrs. Lynn.

"Yeah, them too." The captain sighed, wondering how she was going to explain this.

"You all look the same…" The civilian trailed off.

"We try to personalize hairstyles, clothing and weapons, but yeah, our faces are kind of hard to change. When we get old enough, tattoos will add to the list." Songbird said.

"Why…how…" Saundra trailed off, a mix of emotions on her face.

"I think we broke her." Steam muttered.


	7. Distraction

_A.N. ~ frell it, I make no promises on future posting dates. There's js no predicting how stubborn my brain is going to be. Sorry, guys. And seven chapter mean I must remind you, that I do not own Star Wars, just my ONs._

* * *

><p>"Clones?" Saundra repeated, walking beside Twitch down the street, toward her house. The rest of the squad, Kat, and Claws had gone back to the Military District, leaving the captain and her nexu with the civilian.<p>

"Yes. Until eleven months ago, I thought I was one of two screwed up clones of Jango Fett. But then I met his sister, Lantana. She's my—_our_ prime clone."

"Wait, is Kat the other girl you met when you didn't know about Lantana?"

"No, that was Spitfire. She and I met when Dooku captured me and some friends." Mrs. Lynn swallowed hard.

"Which one was she? In your squad?" Twitch cringed, looking downward and biting the inside of her cheek.

"She's the dead one whose body is still rotting on Vhalan." The woman jerked at the hard tone, looking at her adopted daughter sharply. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It just still hurts." Saundra put an arm around the teenager's shoulders in a sideways hug.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But why is there an entire squad of underaged girls in the army?" All the softness had left her voice.

"Because the chancellor told me to find them and give them a choice between the army and the lives they were already living. A few rejected the offer, but most of them accepted. And don't even think of trying to make me desert."

"Why not? What happened to Spitfire might happen to you some day!" Saundra growled.

"It _will_ happen. One day, I won't come back from a mission alive. Maybe they won't even be able to evacuate my body to burn it. The likeliness of you outliving me is almost remarkable. You better accept that I'm not leaving the GAR, because you can throw the idea of desertion at me as many times as you like, but I am _not_ going anywhere."

"Hey, can you die already?" Ryuk appeared.

"Ciryc, please rip his throat out." Twitch sighed. The cub growled and pounced, biting the demon and digging claws into his chest. "Just ignore the beast, he's about as dangerous as a flower. A really pathetic, annoying flower that sucks at its job."

"Uh-huh. On subject, I'm just trying to understand why you're so determined to stay in the army."

"A, it's what I was bred for, mistake or not. B, I don't like civilian life, and C, duck." Mrs. Lynn obeyed and the captain drew one of her pistols, firing into the head of a naga that had been slithering toward them, killing it with one shot. "D, I can do _that_. Me leaving the army would be like you joining it. By the way, I just spent six months undercover on Mandalore as a student in one of the schools. The only things that made it bearable were my after-classes activities, aka my investigations."

"Glad to know you gave it a fair chance." Saundra stated drily.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised Steam managed. Ryuk! I recommend you take a hike!" The demon nodded and vanished, leaving a rather excited and growling nexu to sniff where he had been standing.

"Now explain the…thing." The woman raised an eyebrow at Ciryc.

"He would be a nexu. And apparently I just named him 'cold' in Mando'a for some reason. Go figure." The feline yawned and nosed Twitch's leg, giving something that could only be described as a meow that broke just after it started and pacing toward the Military District before sitting down.

"What does that mean?" Saundra murmured.

"Best guess, he wants to go home so he can sleep. He's pretty tired afterrr…"

_Fek, me and my karkin' big mouth!_ The veteran knew she wasn't getting out of her current situation from the look on the older female's face.

"After what?"

"Remember that _reeeaallly_ big griever?"

* * *

><p>"AH!" Twitch sat bolt upright, panting with wide eyes. The shuffle of people waking up caught her attention and she tried focusing on those sounds. "It was just a nightmare." She murmured. "Sorry, guys. Go back to sleep." The captain waited until the breathing around her steadied.<p>

It was strange. Many might think that clones would breathe in harmony as they slept, but that was far from the case. There was never a pause to the inhalations and exhalations. The gentle sighs and inward gasps of air were soothing to listen to.

The veteran quietly got out of bed and changed out of her nightclothes into a belly top and tight black pants prior to pulling on her boots and silently walking out. She considered going to the posts, weighing whether a fight with wraiths was worth the solitude or not.

_Ah, let them come. I need a distraction, _she decided, slipping through shadows and beelining for the exit.

Outside, the night air was warm, swept with a gentle breeze. Few sounds broke the quiet, despite the promise of beasts to be roaming around. Military District was peaceful, though if the teenager looked, she could see clones patrolling the walls with their guns held to their chests.

The soldiers guarding the gateway outside merely nodded to Twitch as she walked by, used to seeing her going out.

Moon and starlight helped guide the young girl as she glided through the streets, which had once been full of activity before the beasts appeared. She reached the posts after an hour, but stopped on seeing that someone was already sitting on them.

She could tell it was a human man, bald, but that was it from her position. A hand grabbing her shoulder startled Twitch and she spun to see a wraith, grinning and followed by more of its kind. She unsheathed her arm-blades and jabbed the left one into the monster's throat, making him disappear.

That was the pack's cue and they surged forward, clawing and cackling. Twitch backed up, into the small forest of poles to gain an advantage, and a blue laser bolt hit one of the beasts square between its eyes.

Only after the wraiths had been chased off did the teenager look up to see that the man had a gun. Recognizably, a DC-17. She climbed up, finally getting close enough to see the intricately shaved hair that she could always recognize.

"Captain," the youngling greeted.

"Captain," Keeli replied. "You have a knack for getting into fights."

"Family trait." The joke would have been far more amusing if the man actually knew Twitch's heritage.

"At least this time you didn't almost fall." The older soldier grinned.

"Nah, your turn."

"Did someone say fall?" Ryuk materialized.

"I swear, Ryuk, you're the cubs' new scratching post. And the attack dummy. And the squad's humanoid-shaped punching bag." Twitch growled, grabbing the demon's neck.

"Uh…" Keeli had his guns ready.

"Nah, he's harmless. Extremely annoying, but harmless." The teenager let her stalker go.

"Agh," the beast coughed, "have you gotten stronger recently?"

"Side-effect of wishing someone was dead on a regular basis. Go away."

"But—"

"Want me to add 'moving target' to the list? Because that's what you're going to be if I hear one more word out of you." The monster sighed and vanished, leaving the captains to wonder and simmer.

"Who-_what_ was that?" Keeli asked.

"Ryuk, the most pitiful Despair-class you'll ever meet. Feel free to suggest ways to permanently kill him." They didn't talk for a few minutes after that, merely watching the moons. Eventually, the older clone murmured that he was returning to Military District, leaving alone a still quiet and haunted girl.

* * *

><p>"'A Beast's Heart'?" Twitch repeated incredulously.<p>

"That's right. See, it's similar to the undead the 104th were fighting on Felucia." Captain Wilhuff Tarkin explained, walking with her through the large building of the new Senate Building. He seemed to be High Command's chosen representative whenever talking to the teenager, which was a very poor choice considering she really didn't like him.

"Kat mentioned they were being spat out of large plants." The soldier frowned.

"Indeed they were. And they were brought in through vein-like tubes. But Beast Hearts act in reverse to those plants. Monsters are created within, and then veins take them to varying locations, well away from the source."

"And how exactly did you get all this useful information?" The suspicion in the girl's voice was buried too deep for the man to hear it, but it was still there.

"We found this area's Beast Heart. Its range stretches over five hundred square miles, so based on that, we know approximately how many hearts there are on planet."

"Yeah, unless some are larger or smaller, in which case we have no idea. It's like trying to find a handful of needles in a haystack and asking later if anyone got pricked. But I'm more interested in why you're telling me this."

"A droid sending a feed directly to some researchers found the Heart, moments before massive bats ripped it apart. It will take a large distraction, and larger still battle to destroy it. And these creatures show a hive mind and level of intelligence. While most attack any intruders, a few linger near the Heart to protect it. The 659th have volunteered to be the distraction while your squad slips by to destroy the Heart."

"'Volunteered', huh?" That time, Twitch didn't bother hiding her incredulousness.

"Apparently, shore leave gets rather boring after a few days."

"I know the feeling. When do we attack?"

* * *

><p>"You know, I suddenly don't resent all those times you woke us up during training." Steam grinned to Twitch as they walked toward the landing pads of the district. Plenty of larties would be waiting to take the girls and over half a dozen squads from the 659th. The predawn light (or lack thereof) cast a dull, dark grey shade upon the world.<p>

"Told you it would come in handy. Oh, and I hope you lot like ration bars for breakfast, because that's what's on the menu." The captain raised her voice. The others sighed, grabbed the bland food and began eating.

"Twitch! Old buddy, old friend! You aren't actually doing this, right?" Ryuk appeared, chuckling hysterically between sentences and words. "I mean, this is basically genocide. All those lives you're about to blow up!"

"Thanks for confirming that this'll work. I would say 'nice knowing you', but it would be rude to make my last words to you a lie." The teenager smirked. Tail approached the group and Read silently led the remaining seven girls towards their transport, already knowing her CO would like a few moments alone with her brother. The Despair demon vanished.

The close siblings locked forearms, smiling, though one under his helmet.

"See you after the Heart burns." The scout murmured, inquiring without asking.

"See you then. Take care of yourself, vod."

"You too, vod'ika." That was all that needed saying and they went their separate ways, linking through telepathy, merely for the sake of sensing the other's presence.

* * *

><p>Entering into the caves was slow and nerve-wracking, with the squad of teenagers in the back and all the other troops in the front. The plan was simple: the main force would distract the bats while the girls attacked the Heart. Twitch would plant the explosives while her subordinates kept the rearguard off her.<p>

Almost the moment everyone was inside, squeaking and the flutter of leathery wings filled the air. Guns were raised, varying weapons drawn. A bat as large as a grown man, excluding its wings, dove towards Klairen Ghynna, the Jedi in command of the 659th and the one who sliced the beast in half.

As if it were a trigger, dozens more appeared, shrieking and calling and dive-bombing.

"Flash grenades!" Keeli shouted over the sound. The girls shielded their eyes a millisecond before white-hot light filled the room. The moment all was dark again, the clones opened fire and Twitch led her squad quickly along the sides of the massive cavern, every now and then shooting any beasts that noticed them.

Screams and shouts of men could dimly be heard over the cacophony of the monsters, making the teenagers cringe and every now and then, one would catch a glimpse of a soldier dying, or being carried off to have who-knew-what done to him. By the time the girls reached the back of the cave, casualties for both sides had become grim.

They stopped short to take in a massive, sixteen-meter-tall, black, pumping organ surrounded by a small swarm of bats, who immediately noticed the intruders and began swooping towards them.

"Kill them quickly, before they alert the others!" Twitch ordered, already firing with both her dual pistols. The girls either went in for close combat or stayed at a distance to shoot better. Bucky was hopping around, electrocuting the flying beasts with her whip.

They moved in like a knife through butter, making their way through a canyon of bats towards the Heart. As soon as they reached the black mass, the captain pulled a bag full of thermal detonators out and began placing them. Bucky, Read, and Songbird stayed close, moving as she did in case any monsters got past the rest of the shooting squad.

Just as Twitch placed the last detonator, she froze and looked up, to where slight bumps showed in the ceiling.

"No, we didn't calculate that. Kriff!" She snarled.

"What is it?" Read panted.

"The veins! There's a high chance that when the Heart blows, the cave will collapse." She quickly commed Keeli. "Sir, the veins might cause a cave in. I suggest everyone clear the vicinity before we detonate."

"Do you have a long range trigger?" The young veteran was about to reply when a particularly humongous bat appeared and knocked her and her three subordinates over with one swipe of its massive claws. Twitch slowly got up with a groan and reached for her belt, where the remote det was, but found it missing.

She looked around frantically, dodging a crushing blow from the gigantic creature, and spotted it teetering precariously on a ledge to a drop that would make it irretrievable.

She made a dive for it, but the bat landed and crushed the device, destroying that possibility.

"Fek! Sorry, captain, the remote just got wrecked. Best I can give you is a three-minute delay before everything explodes."

"Are you sure the cave will collapse?"

"It's a high possibility. I'm giving it an eight out of ten chance. Keeli, you need to get your men out of here. I'm sending my squad out, too, in case things go haywire." Songbird and Read looked sharply at their sister, mouths opening.

"Negative, you're suggesting a suicide mission." The older clone snapped.

"Not necessarily. I can predict where the debris will fall. Sir, it's this or draw back and try again, and I'm not willing to put your men through another high-casualty battle. I'm sending my girls over. You need to evacuate. Once my squad is over there, you have three minutes to get your shebs out of this cave, understood?"

That tone. The man remembered it from Lego. It meant he didn't stand a chance arguing. "Alright, k'oyacyi."

"Listen up! You lot are heading back to the main force _right now._ Read, comm me when you make it." Twitch shouted, finally taking down the gigantic bat with a shot to its eye.

"Wait, what about you?" Arrow grunted, narrowly avoiding the talons of a beast.

"I'll be right behind you once the detonators are set. Now _move_! I'll be fine." As the girls began running, the second struggled to hold in her emotions.

"She was lying," the seventeen-year-old choked out to herself, having to say it.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ no promises on the next one, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) <em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Ciryc: [seer-EESH] cold  
><strong>

**K'oyacyi: [Koy-AH-shee!] cheers, hang in there, come back safely, (literally a command): stay alive**


	8. Well-Fed And Not Tired

_A.N. ~ yes! Got this one up quickly! I don't want to get any hopes up, but at least now I've figuratively figured out which way is up and which way is down._

* * *

><p>When the detonators went off, nothing was in Twitch's mind besides running as quickly as possible for the exit while dodging bats and falling debris. Survival was her only concern, but making it over two hundred meters over a floor comprised of different rocks and avoiding falling ones made that difficult.<p>

Not a thought entered her brain, just the sound of her heart pounding in her ears as she raced for freedom. The sight of the last white-armored man leaving pushed her harder, but fear coursed in when the exit's mouth collapsed.

Looking up, the captain saw a large boulder about to fall directly where she was going and she skidded to a halt, jumping onto a rock that's surface was angled diagonally upwards, pushing off, and hand-springing to safety.

The screaming of the flying beasts rose over cracking stone, either full of pain or panic. None tried attacking her, too focused on living. But they also seemed to be dissolving into shadow, leaving nothing behind.

A small glow of triumph entered the soldier's heart before another wave of terror shot through her as a huge chunk of the ceiling crashed down only a few feet in front of her, sending rocks of varying sizes flying everywhere. One slammed into the teenager's stomach, knocking her back.

Twitch lay, gasping for breath and trying to numb out the aching pain in her abdomen. Her limbs shook with exhaustion, and looking up, she saw one of the few remaining bats diving toward her. Just as the monster filled her vision, it faded into blackness, revealing another large stone dropping towards her.

The girl sat up and stumbled away, crying out when some of the hard shrapnel hit her back. Her legs gave out and she looked up, wanting to know if she was going to die.

_Twitch? Twitch! Hey, are you alright? Hey!_ Tail yelled in her head.

_You don't have to shout, I'm not brain-dead, _she replied with a weak smile, screwing her eyes shut as a nearby mound of dirt exploded apart on impact with the floor, spraying her face.

_Are you okay? I can feel you're hurt. What's happening in there?_ Her brother sounded just as scared as she felt.

_Yeah, got hit with some debris. Stuff is still falling, too. Not on top of me, at least. Hey, the bats disappeared, _Twitch focused on their link, on the scout's mind and his familiar presence. It kept her calm.

_That's good. Can you get out? How badly are you injured?_

_The tunnel out is sealed. I'm going to need help. I don't know what's wrong, I just hurt. Got hit in the stomach with a rock and some stones got my back. What about you and the others, is everyone alright?_ Another piece of debris began falling, either going to land on top of the veteran or near enough to threaten serious damage.

This time, she crawled away, taking cover behind a small outcropping. It curved slightly on top of her, offering far more protection than what she'd had moments before. Looking out, Twitch could watch for any threats safely, thankful that the dust wasn't too thick.

_All who survived the battle are accounted for. Except the suicidal little sister!_

_Still able to play the role of big brother in a bad situation. And once again, it's not necessarily a suicide mission! I'm still alive, and the amount of osik nearly crushing me is starting to go down. You know, I'm still going to live through this, and then we're having a chat about yelling at each other in dangerous situations. _The small bit of humor was normal. The teenager always tried joking to comfort her friends when things looked grim.

She noticed a small falling island of dirt and stone about to crash down around fifteen feet in front of where she was and vaulted back over the outcropping, crouching as she waited out the miniature storm of sailing hard bits.

_Great. Can't wait to hear it. I'll tell the captain you're still alive and in need of a medic. And still insane._ That was a good sign, Tail returning a joke.

_'Kay. Oh, kriff!_ The captain began staggering away from where she'd been, avoiding yet another boulder. _I hate gravity!_ She was heaving for breath, nearly being taken over by the same blind panic that had dominated her first few minutes after the explosion.

_Twitch? Kid, you okay? _Tail asked.

_Who're you calling 'kid', kid?_ She retorted with a slight huff of amusement. In everything short of biology, she often considered herself the older of the two. She did, after all, have more years to her life and more experience.

_Oh, yeah, you're fine. Shorty._ That struck a nerve.

_Do you really want to get into a nicknaming game? Because I promise you, I have a wider vocabulary._ The gentle joking reassured the girl. It gave a sense of normalcy when she knew she could easily be dead any second.

_I want to live! Noo!_ Twitch laughed – actually _laughed_ with her life on the line – at the older clone's tone.

* * *

><p>Twitch waited, curled in the indent of several boulders in the fetal position, one arm wrapped around her aching stomach and the other hand toying with Tail's dog tag. She was simply waiting for someone to drill into the cave.<p>

With just one person breathing lightly, she wasn't too afraid of suffocation, just any loose pieces of the ceiling that may be shaken loose.

The sound of the stones shifting lifted her head, but it was just the ones at the exit, being knocked to the side before several white-and-red men and differently-dressed girls rushed in, one of the older clones marked with black.

The captain struggled to her feet, dropping onto her hands and knees before bracing herself and getting up a second time, this time remaining upward.

Tail and another medic rushed over, the former attempting to help support her weight before a momentary glare yanked his hands away. The second didn't even try running such a risk.

"You're insane, you know that?" The commando growled.

"Yeah, save it for when I'm well-fed and not tired. Then maybe I'll give a kriff." He swatted her head lightly as they walked, and when the second medic began unfolding an antigrav gurney, but the teenager shook her head. "I'll walk." Another, more forceful whack from her brother-by-choice got a muttered line in Mando'a that was thankfully too low to be heard properly.

"You'd be crawling by the end of it. I'll pull rank if I have to." Tail warned.

"You're such a jerk sometimes. I'm fine, just bruised." A sharp poke from the man had her doubled over, clutching her abdomen and moaning several expletives. "I really hate you for that." She wheezed.

"Yeah, yeah, save it for when I'm well-fed and not tired." He rolled his shoulders. A hard thwack to the veteran's back drew out a strangled groan that was quickly cut off. Songbird and Steam, the medic of the two grabbing her fiery sister's arm with a scowl, had walked over.

"Di'kut, you do _not_ hit someone with possible internal bleeding!" The musical girl snapped.

"Trust me, Song, if I were bleeding like that—"

"You'd still be trying to walk a mile uphill." Tail interrupted.

"Okay, true. But I'm fine!"

"For the love of Force, just start walking!" Steam sighed, grabbing the captain's arm before beginning to march away, dragging her along.

"Thanks," Twitch murmured as the three medics watched them leave, two calling abuse in Mando'a after them.

"We tough patients have to stick together," the hothead grinned.

* * *

><p>"I'm—"<p>

"Don't you dare say you're alright! Those bruises indicate you actually might have internal bleeding, and I'm not taking any chances!" Songbird basically howled the words, yanking her CO towards Military District's large medical bay.

"I've be in worse con—okay, never mind. I've been able to handle internal bleeding for a time."

"'For a time' isn't the same as 'I won't drop over after a few hours'. Now _GET IN THERE!_" They entered the medical bay and the younger girl sat her sister down on a bed, making the captain roll up her shirt, just high enough to make the bruises easily accessible.

"I saw that wince." The thirteen-year-old muttered as she smeared cold bacta over Twitch's abdomen.

"Oh, shut up and do your job."

* * *

><p>Twitch cringed as she sat down with Tail in a cantina. They'd made a bet with a few of the men in the 659th that the plan would work and both of them would make it out alive, earning a few credits that had been saved from after the first Clone War ended, when the GAR soldiers had been released from duty.<p>

Now they were planning to have some food while they caught up. Food that wasn't from a mess hall.

"You really are an insane di'kut. And you're not going to learn any lesson through physical pain, are you?" He sighed.

"Nope. By the way, we spent six months undercover as students on Mandalore. Worst half year ever."

"Well, guess that just proves you aren't a normal teenager. Not that that needed testing."

"No kidding. But what've you been doing lately?" Before the scout could reply, a large Quarren man walked over and began talking.

"Hey, kid, this meat can bothering you?" She opened her mouth, but the stranger turned to face Tail with extremely hostile body language. "You leave her alone, got it, freak?" The captain suddenly stood, forcing her way between the man and her brother.

"_Beat. It._" She growled in a low, threatening voice.

"If by 'it', you mean the Fake Fett, gladly." That flared the teenager's temper and she grabbed the alien's mouth tentacles, yanking him painfully to eye-level.

"Call him one more insulting name, and I will carve you up like a pumpkin and watch your guts spill onto the floor." With that, she released him and sat down, grabbing a napkin to wipe her wet hand on.

The Quarren shivered and stalked away, looking over his shoulder once with large eyes.

"I had that." Tail joked.

"Right, you were just about to talk him down with mime movements."

"Exactly." The medic raised his chin in an arrogant fashion.

"Bite me." They grinned and waited for their food quietly, pretending to be interested in different things while they actually were mentally sharing experiences. A kind of mutual flow of information to each other that they could watch like holovids.

It took a surprisingly short amount of time for over six months of experiences to be shared, but at least it was long enough to distract them until their food showed up.

* * *

><p>Kat and Claws boredly strolled towards the <em>Hunter's<em> gym, one planning to sleep and the other going to go a few rounds with Ranger.

"Think I should warn him how bored I am?" The teenager mumbled. A huff and shake of head indicated her companion's indifference. "I see you still worry about his survival. Great to know." A purr was the reply.

They walked into the gym, meeting Ranger and his nexu, who he'd named Shadow, due to her rapidly darkening fur. The cub nosed her mother with a squawk of greeting, mrowing in indignation as the older feline tumbled her over playfully.

"Alright, s—" A shaking boom rattled the ship, knocking a few off-balance men over and making everyone freeze. The girl and her friend, both followed by the predators, ran into the hallway to see a boarding ship. "Stang! Is that what I think it is?" Kat snapped.

"Yep. We need to get to the nearest weapons locker." Thankfully, one was near the room, a wise precaution since so many likely unarmed troops would be in the gym.

"Boarding ship. Everybody to the armory!" Kat shouted, just as alarms began blaring. She had left her gauntlets and guns in her quarters, not as paranoid as Twitch when it came to when an attack could come.

B1s were starting to unload, but strangely enough, so were soldiers clearly human.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ brownie points to whoever caught the Star Trek: Voyager line.<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Osik: [OH-sik] dung (impolite)**


	9. Pitiful

_A.N. ~ I'm on a roll today! 'Bout time, too._

* * *

><p>Foolishly, one of the human aggressors tried taking on Kat in hand-to-hand, quickly getting a broken neck for his efforts. The rest tried shooting from a distance, and the girl jumped into a vent, quickly reappearing in the middle of the enemy ranks, stealing a gun and swiftly ending the opposition with cover fire from Ranger, using the first-killed man's weapon.<p>

"This reeks of Dooku." The teenager spat once she was done. Plenty of male clones had started pilfering guns off the dead hostiles. Ranger nodded and Claws began growling as she sniffed the small battlefield, snorting every now and then in disgust. "At least the live ones are pathetic shots."

The most disturbing thing, however, was that the humans were in shiny white armor that was similar to the clones', but had several clear differences, the main one being the helmet designs. Instead of a T-shaped visor, they had separate black-tinted spots where their eyes most likely were and the entire piece was shaped differently.

"Now this is just insulting." Another soldier muttered.

"All available troops to the engine room. Protect it!" Someone ordered over the ship-wide comm.

"I've gotta get my stuff. Claws, stick with 'em!" Kat ordered before running down a corridor. She every now and then had to shoot down the occasional enemy, either droid or flesh, and avoided groups completely in the ventilation systems, but made it to her quarters in near record time. She threw on her gauntlets, snapped her belt around her waist, and walked right out infront of a group of shiny white men. They weren't clone rookies.

"Ah, fek. I give you fair warning, if you stay there for three more seconds, you're dead men." The girl put one hand on her hip, the other on the back of her bent head as she contemplated the quickest way to deal with these hostile soldiers.

They opened fire, all seven of them, but Kat only had to deflect a couple of the bolts with a disbelieving expression on her face as she strolled casually toward them, still having to put minimal effort into her survival.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me! Your aim's pitiful! Seven-year-old cadets are way better shots!" She almost felt like shooting fish in a barrel as she speedily ended the attackers' lives. "Pitiful."

* * *

><p>Twitch grimaced, stubbornly continuing to hit a punching bag despite her sore body. Bacta did little to help due to an irregularity that was, thankfully, unique to her among Lantana Fett's clones. She was still tender from her fiasco in the cave, but thankfully was on the mend.<p>

_I thought—_

_Yeah, Tail, you _did_ tell me to take it easy. You somehow haven't gotten that me hitting a bag full of sand _is_ taking it easy,_ she interrupted, already knowing what her brother was planning on bringing up.

_Great. Bad news, by the way._ The teenager stopped to get a drink, panting and wiping warm sweat off her forehead.

_Let's hear it, _she sighed.

_Jango's remaining DNA has apparently reached its limits. Birth-born recruits are starting to be trained, _the older clone basically sounded like the words leaving his mouth felt like a bramble scraping up his throat.

_What? Ah, fek. Where'd you hear this?_ There was that mixed hope that A, clones would finally stop being bred and forced into hell without ever having a different option, and B, the soldiers weren't about to be mixed with people who haven't spent years and years in intensive military training.

_General Ghynna said that they were going to fill out the 659__th__'s ranks. We _did_ lose a lot of men destroying that heart. _

_Crap. Not sure whether to be happy people with a choice are joining or annoyed that we're going to be stuck with possible pansies, _she side-kicked her bag so hard it went swinging three feet.

_Guess we'll know what to feel when the shinies get here tomorrow. I'm betting our levels of one-on-ones are going to skyrocket, _the scout felt almost happy at the thought of demonstrating to any fool who challenged him exactly why he and his brothers had been the main force of the army for several years.

_Yeah. Though I guess not all non-clones are that bad. I mean, we've been lead by Jedi for all this time, and Tsudek and Saundra, as annoying as they can be at times, are good people. T_he defense set them both into long stretches of silence as they mulled over the thought of new blood entering the GAR.

* * *

><p>Kat had to wonder how in the world the humans attacking the <em>Hunter<em> even knew how to hold the guns they were using. They definitely couldn't aim them. She and Claws, closely followed by Ranger and Shadow, continuously charged straight into enemy groups before swiftly massacring their ranks.

"Do you even need your gauntlets for this?" Ranger eventually sighed. There had only been a couple injuries among their two-squads-worth of troops defending a door to the engine room.

"They're only current purpose would be ripping open throats. Otherwise, I haven't really needed to block anything, I just do occasionally out of habit. I'm so used to droids that can actually shoot. Okay, sort of shoot. These guys are just pulling their triggers and hoping for the best." The older clone nodded in agreement, shooting the last of the men they had been fighting point-blank.

"It's almost insulting how whoever sent them thinks such pathetic troops can beat us." He muttered, picking his way over the metal and bloody corpses, back towards the main group.

"No kidding. If they wanted to destroy the ship, they should've sent commandos or a Sith or _someone_ who could actually _do _something."

"Here, kitty, kitty."

"I just had to open my mouth."

* * *

><p>Twitch saw the new recruits the next day, during breakfast, and she nearly choked on her food. She had been expecting new faces, but not new species. Near-humans mixed with the normal ones entered the room, drawing nearly every clones' attention.<p>

_This is either helpful or the worst idea in the galaxy, _Tail hadn't meant to share the thought, but he was so surprised, he'd forgotten to maintain mental barriers.

_Shoot me now, they have a Trandoshan, _Twitch groaned, also not realizing her brother had heard her. It was a small Trandoshan, but still a Trandoshan.

The new recruits looked uncomfortable as they got in line to eat, and when the first few sat and tasted their food, a low chuckle filled the room at their expressions from the clones.

"Still not used to military food? How long've they been in training?" The captain muttered to Tail.

"Not long enough. I think I just felt Jango turn in his grave."

"The feeling's mutual, and he's not even my prime clone." They sighed and returned to eating, examining any new faces that came into their field of vision. Soon, the Mess Hall started getting crowded, and the rookies had to sit with veterans.

A couple human men and Theelin hesitantly approached the commando's table, and after a couple shrugs, they sat down.

_So, ignore them or break the rookies in? _The teenager asked.

By 'breaking in', she meant the way of verbally teaching the new people what was what, usually not in a very gentle way among the clones. It was often speculated that if they actually had the resources, the soldiers might indulge in hazing. Lucky for any new recruits, they didn't. Who knew what a bunch of highly intelligent, creative, trained-to-be-merciless people could come up with.

"Um, maybe it's because we're new, but aren't kids supposed to not be in the army?" The Theelin asked.

_Breaking him in, _the two decided simultaneously.

_Hard, _the captain added.

"Okay, you're raw, so we'll let that one slide." Tail crossed his arms. "But you should know, _Captain Twitch_ here isn't partial to having her age brought up." A smile nearly tugged at the teenager's lips, but she forced it under a strict, nearly emotionless mask: the same one she'd worn around Pyro Squad for a time.

"Captain?" One of the men nearly choked on his food.

"That's right, shiny." She confirmed, catching a thought in Tail's head about how much she sounded like Rex right then, speaking with the accent most clones shared and a deeper tone than usual. "But as Corporal Tail said, we'll let that one slide. You're going to want to learn how to identify superior officers quickly. Body language is a big thing when everyone's wearing the same armor on the battlefield."

The men nodded, muttering 'sorry, ma'ams' before continuing to eat. Just as they finished, a new voice caught the five's attention.

"Tell me I'm not seeing this." Steam groaned.

"Better believe it." Twitch replied, wondering if she should save the rookies from her subordinate or watch the fun.

"Broke them in yet, or do they need some work?" The fiery teenager sat next to her CO, getting them both strange looks from the strangers.

"Haven't gotten into any of the serious stuff yet." Tail shrugged.

"Allow me." Steam grinned.

Twitch smiled, pitying the shinies. "Leave 'em in one piece."

* * *

><p>"I…could've sworn…I killed you!" Kat grunted, back-flipping to avoid the rapidly-fired laser bolts flying at her.<p>

"No, you left me for dead. And was dumb enough to not finish me off!"

"Heh, maybe I wanted to go another round with you. And I'm sorry, but I sort of burned your hat." After an almost animalistic snarl, the teenager laughed. "Okay, I lied. I _really _am not sorry. But hey, I can always kill you for certain this time and reunite you. It'll be such a happy moment."

"Shut _up_!" Claws leapt on top of the attacker, but she almost immediately fell, limply, onto the floor as he struggled out from under her.

"Now you're _definitely_ going to die." The girl hissed, dodging into cover before opening fire with both her DC-17s angrily, barely letting up on the triggers. Ranger tried helping, but another group of hostiles appeared and he had to focus on the new – however small – threat.

* * *

><p>Twitch wasn't sure whether or not she should have been surprised to see that there was already a one-on-one between a clone and new recruit in the gym, though when she found it was Ticks, she decided there was nothing unexpected there.<p>

The speed with which the rookie went down was almost embarrassing, though a testimony to his clear lack of good training. The teenager was almost laughing at his poor technique.

"And _that_ is why we 'Fake Fetts' are not the pansies in this room." The aggressive clone crowed, actually drawing a laugh from the girl.

She couldn't quite kill the smirk on her face as she began practicing kicks on a punching bag, ignoring the scowling man on her right who kept throwing her glances.

"You think that was funny?" The rookie finally growled after a while.

"Somebody was dumb enough to push a man who's been trained in combat since he could speak. I'm fairly sure if he let that escalate into a one-on-one, he kind of deserves the bruises."

"Really? And you happen to be a soldier?"

"Yup."

"And you got a kick out of watching my brother getting beat up?"

"I'm partial towards a di'kut getting what he deserves." That snowballed them into a short spurt of insults, comebacks, and challenges, straight up to the pair basically racing for a spot to have a one-on-one. Twitch remembered in the back of her mind that she was still a captain, but neutrality could always be given up every now and then.

Besides, other troops understood that superior officers were still human and every now and then needed to blow off steam, and these fights just happened to be part of life in the GAR. Actively seeking out someone to beat up wasn't allowed, but the occasional spat was fine.

So, as the two squared off, Ticks and a couple of his buddies grinning and shaking their heads in pity on the sidelines, the teenager pushed that little voice screaming how she was still a CO out of her mind and braced her aching body for activity.

_One day! That all I asked was that you take it slow for one day! But no, you had to get into a karkin' fight! _Tail complained.

_He started it. I'm just ending it._ And then the fight started.

The rookie tried a kick, just to get going, but it was easily deflected, knocking him off balance. Then he tried a few punches, getting a knee to his stomach in reply.

"Are we dancing or duelling, Nancy?" The captain taunted. That time, her opponent didn't hesitate with a fast hook, but his arm was knocked straight up and his poorly guarded head received a smack from the back of her foot.

The rookie backed up, trying to get his bearings. Twitch let him, hiding a smile behind a bored, almost indifferent expression.

"She's fekkin' _playing_ with him." Ticks muttered to his friend, enjoying the short spurts of activity between the two, mainly the new recruit trying to land a blow on the girl while she countered and hit him repeatedly with precise, hard jabs clearly aimed for pain rather than damage.

"Man, did they teach you _anything_ back in training, or did they just give you a gun and tell you how to shoot it?" Twitch sighed, ducking a punch before slamming into the shiny's nose with her elbow and tripping him so he landed on his back.

The man groaned and struggled to get up, but his shaking arms gave out. The captain knelt and patted his cheek a couple times.

"Welcome to the army, Cupcake."


	10. A Part Of Life

_A.N. ~ Mr. Gibbs, I feel furried and unusual... Yeah, if you're ever going to de-fur a couch your cats have been using as a bed for months, don't. I feel like I'm wearing a fur coat and there isn't even any fluff where I feel it. Off that strange note, at least this chapter didn't take so long, so please enjoy :)_

* * *

><p>"Ung, did we win?" Kat groaned, trying to sit up with little success.<p>

"Yeah. But you and Claws took a beating." Ranger was sitting next to the teenager's bed, and she realized they were in the medical bay.

"Is she alright?" One again, the girl attempted to get up, but her friend gently, firmly pushed her down. Harsh white lights surrounded them. Kat didn't really have a problem with med bays the way her sisters did, but she didn't like staying down. Or the sterile environment.

"Yeah, just working through a shot of paralysis Bane gave her. Lucky it wasn't something worse." A huff from the animal in question caught their attention. She was lying to Kat's left on the floor, shifting as though trying to free herself from chains.

"No kidding. You know, I'm okay to get up. Just a little sore."

"'Just a little sore'? Alright, which rib is broken?"

* * *

><p>"You want us to <em>what<em>?!" Twitch nearly collided with a door frame, she was so surprised.

"You heard me perfectly well." Tarkin continued walking with his hands behind his back and his chin raised high.

"Y-yeah, but…" The captain shook herself, regaining composure as she hurried to catch up. "We're soldiers, not civilians. On that subject, _why_ aren't you just hiring civilians to do this?"

"Because you and your squad are capable of protecting yourselves if these people turn out to be who we suspect they are. You're all versed in close-combat, are you not?"

"Oy, vey. Look, I have nooo idea how to act like a…what did you call it?"

"Normal, innocent girl."

"I can do the girl part, but normal is sort of an impossibility. Five years of war don't leave you unscarred, and a lot of us wake up screaming in the night. Want us to explain that?" Tarkin looked at her, almost literally down his nose.

"Lie. Say you had abusive parents, adults attacked you when you were young and you still have nightmares." The teenager removed a gauntlet and nearly shoved her bare arm in the man's face.

"If they are who you say they are, they'll know what torture marks look like."

"So say you were tortured. I thought you were good at these sort of things."

"I am. And at least now I know _somebody _doesn't have their head up their shebs."

* * *

><p>"No."<p>

"Like it or not, Steam, going undercover is a part of our life in this squad. I'm not saying you have to be a pansy, just…not so scary that it's obvious you're military. Look at it this way. You find out what to need to, then you call it in, and then you get to beat the crap out of them." Twitch hoped she was at least slightly convincing.

"Sure, sure. Shoot me now."

"This is probably a bad time to mention, no weapons. Not smuggling them with us, we're relying on our hand-to-hand abilities, just like Mandalore." The others sighed, groaned, cursed, or pursed their lips, but nodded.

A few hours later had them learning things from a few professionals, like how to apply makeup, current slangs in Basic that were popular lately, a few lessons on what to and not to do, and in short, prepping for the mission.

As one woman put some makeup on Twitch's face, just so she would be more presentable to the people she was to infiltrate, two sets of footsteps entered the room.

"My, Twitch, you look rather lovely today." That tone held a tremor of barely-contained amusement.

"Bite me…sir." The captain spat out, not absolutely rudely, but in a very frustrated, flat monotone. A soft chuckle from Kenobi, mixed with a female's chortle, didn't help the teenager's ire.

"Well, I suppose you'd rather not hear that my new Padawan is coming with you. This will be a good learning experience." Twitch almost opened her eyes, but talking had already gotten her an irritated swat from the artist working on her.

"Hmm." Was all she risked. It was a contemplative, if emotionless sound.

_I think Steam was on to the whole shooting thing, _the girl sighed.

_Yeah, well, you'd better get used to going undercover. It's a part of your life in that squad, _Tail reminded.

_Jerk._ Her brother laughed in their heads, nearly drawing a frustrated growl, thankfully stopped by the captain's self-control.

"Okay, we're finished here. Take a look." The makeup artist moved and held a mirror up in front of the teenager's face, and she blinked in surprise at her reflection. Black eye-liner made the gold-shade of her irises far more noticeable, and a light blush brought out the soft pink lipstick that had been applied earlier.

"Huh. Thanks." Then Twitch noticed the girl standing next to the Jedi. She was around the clone's age, Pantoran, with white, waist-length hair and yellow eyes. Markings of a similar shade were on her forehead and cheeks.

"Captain, this is Chal Makto." Obi-Wan introduced. "I'll let you two get to know each other. Just be at the landing pads in one hour." And with that, the general walked out.

"It is nice to meet you, captain." Makto bowed, hesitantly copied by the soldier.

"Likewise, ma'am. My name is Twitch, though undercover, it's Akinta. You should also choose a pseudonym." The quick switch from pleasantries to business seemed abrupt to the Padawan, but she decided it was likely normal from a military person.

"Very well. I will choose one as soon as I can." They looked at each other undecidedly for a short while before the captain took the initiative.

"Alright, well, you should meet the rest of the squad. We're probably going to end this in a bit of a frenzy." As they walked, Twitch asked questions that she suspected would be necessary. "So, how are your close-combat skills? Unarmed, I mean."

"I'm still learning, though I've figured out how to make people fall asleep with the Force."

"Good. That'll definitely come in handy. This your first assignment?" The Pantoran hesitated.

"Of this scale, yes."

"Well, going undercover is a good starting point. Better than throwing you into the Beast Zone. Been with the Jedi for a while?"

"Most of my life. Since I was three." And they entered into the squad's quarters, where Read, Bucky, Steam, and Arrow were already waiting.

Ciryc growled and leaped at the Padawan, grabbed in midair by Twitch, who was basically unphased by the predator's outburst.

"Sorry, he's not used to non-clones." The soldier grunted, putting down the nexu with a firm warning to leave Chal alone. "Girls, meet Chal Makto. She'll be joining the mission." Read stood, walking over and sticking out her hand, shaking the newcomer's warmly.

"I'm Read. It's okay to be nervous. The first time out is always the worst."

"How did you…"

"I read body language. Even when you're trying to suppress it, there are still signs." The seventeen-year-old explained.

"Trust me, it gets as annoying as haran after a couple days." Steam called from her bunk, adding her name after a short pause. Arrow and Bucky put themselves into the mix, and soon the rest of the squad joined them.

"I hope you'll forgive a few mistakes on my behalf. I'm terrible with names." The Padawan smiled.

"Don't worry. I've already forgotten yours. What was it again?" Dream grinned.

* * *

><p>"Get back down, for the love of Force!"<p>

"No! I'm fi—ow! Watch where you shove me, chakaar!"

"You're worse than Twitch! You have internal bleeding. GET BACK ON THAT BED!" No one else was in the medical bay, except a very frustrated medic and Kat. Claws was out for a walk with Ranger and Shadow.

"NO!" They grappled for control over a syringe full of clear liquid. "I'll get knocked out on my own time, thanks very much!" A muttered curse in Mando'a from the medic couldn't be heard over the grunting.

"Fek it, kid, the more you struggle, the longer your bed rest is gonna be!"

"I'll take my chances." The teenager suddenly let herself drop, rolling with a foot pressed against the man's chest and still holding onto his hands so he went flying over her head. Before further action could be initiated by the older clone, she hopped on a bed and launched into the vents.

"Uh, Strings, what're you doing?" Sinker had just walked in to get some bandages for a large, bleeding cut on the back of his hand.

"Trying to start breathing again. I'm beginning to miss Twitch." The medic staggered to his feet, glaring at the ceiling and muttering insults under his breath.

"Kid giving you a rough time, huh?"

"Oh, you have noo idea."

* * *

><p>The couple that 'adopted' Twitch and Chal seemed nice enough, welcoming the girls home with a large, beautiful dinner. The soldier was hesitant to eat anything given to her by the strangers, but undercover was undercover, and she had to act normally.<p>

The Padawan wasn't so suspicious, just quiet, polite, and curious. She made small talk while her temporary partner decided she didn't care how dangerous accepting the food was, it tasted wonderful.

"So, Akinta, I'm glad you're enjoying the meal." The man, Torse Turner, said as she began raising another forkful towards her mouth.

"It's delicious. Thank you so much." The wife, Jewel Turner, grinned, showing perfect, white teeth.

_This is going to be veerrry cruel if these people are innocent, _the captain inwardly sighed. Tail was too far away to hear her, but she still instinctually hoped to get a reply.

Whether anyone heard her or not, though, it was still true. If innocent, the adults would lose the adopted children they had so hoped to have.

By the time the food was eaten, darkness was coming over the land.

"Well, we'd like to have you homeschooled, but you should have a little time to get used to the house, so we'll start next week." The woman decided.

"That sounds perfect. Thank you." Makto dipped her head respectfully. The teenagers helped clean up in the kitchen before being told to take a look around the house. Only the husband's office was off limits.

"The likeliness of them being guilty is already dropping." Twitch whispered as they explored the second floor of the building.

"You're right. If they were actually members of the underworld, they would want us out of the house as often as possible."

"Not to mention this would've been a guided tour if they had something to hide." The girls exchanged looks full of suspicion, worry, and curiosity.

* * *

><p>Kat, fully dressed in a tight black t-shirt under an unzipped brown leather jacket, wearing tight black pants and dark brown army boots to finish the outfit, was in the Mess Hall, eating and evaluating pain levels every time she swallowed a mouthful of food.<p>

_I'm fine. There's only a small amount of discomfort. Nothing wrong, _she inwardly muttered.

Ranger walked in and scowled at her, getting his meal and sitting down. "Could've sworn you were in the med bay with internal bleeding."

"I was. Gave myself an early check out. Really, I'm not even in pain." That got her crossed arms and a frown. "Don't worry, _dad_, it's nothing."

Strings walked into the door, scanning the room with hard eyes while Kat sank into her seat, trying to let Ranger's body hide her own.

"Over here." The teenager's friend pointed at her.

"Oh, you traitor." She muttered, eyes flicking upwards to spot a vent above a table near the door. An empty table, too.

The medic walked over and led the girl towards the exit. She back-flipped just as he went out, landing on the nearest bench of the table before launching against the grate over the shaft and tumbling through. She put the metal back in place, glad all the vents' covers were rigged to move inwards, and began rapidly worming away.

"Ah, stang. Fek it, I'll just treat her after she collapses." Strings growled.

* * *

><p>THREE WEEKS LATER<p>

Twitch and Chal struggled against their restraints, watching nervously as Torse circled them with a large knife. The teenagers were in chairs, unable to get free and the Padawan's hands too firmly bound to be of use.

"You kids shouldn't have gotten nosy. This could have been avoided." The man sighed.

"You shouldn't have tied us up. Just makes it harder on you in the long run." The captain replied, showing only anger and hostility, no fear. A hard punch landed on her cheek before Turner left. No one else was in the basement.

"Are you alright?" Makto whispered.

"Fine. Any way you can get us out of this?" A shaken head was the reply. "I can't get free, either."

_Tail. Come on, I don't have time for this. Tail!_ Strain as she might, the soldier couldn't reach her brother. She tried focusing on sending just a spear of fear and desperation toward him, only concentrating on getting the emotions across. She gave up after a minute, surprisingly exhausted from the effort.

"Akinta, we will get out of this, won't we?" The Padawan murmured.

"No doubt. We were supposed to check in today. When we don't, they'll know something's up." The confidence displayed by the veteran didn't mirror her true feelings. She knew they could be killed long before help arrived.

"You're so calm. How can you not be afraid?" Chal tried to remain serene and remember one of the Jedi sayings: 'there is no death, only the Force'. It offered little comfort. Of _course _there was death! People died every day!

"I'm not scared because I've accepted I probably won't live a long life. That being said, I don't plan on either of us dying young. We'll both make it out of this."

"Right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be like this. I'm a Jedi, not a civilian." Twitch smiled at the apologetic tone. The other teenager always put blame on herself, regardless of necessity or not.

"It's fine. What you're going through happens to everyone at some point or another. The first mission's always the hardest." They were still talking very quietly, afraid of eavesdropping.

"I see. I apologize for my anxiety, but would you tell me about one of your experiences?"

_She's got to be trying to distract herself,_ the captain decided, feeling bad that she let the Pantoran get into such a mess.

"Okay, Clone Wars or more recently?"

"I'm trying to get a better grasp of what it was like for the men I will be put in command of, so either clone war, please."

"Alright, uh…I'll tell you about Rokurr."

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ Rokurr, pronounced 'row-KOOR'. Anyways, I'll get to work on the next chapter soon.<br>_

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Chakaar: [chah-KAR] corpse robber, thief, petty criminal (general term of abuse)**


	11. Survival

_A.N. ~ sorry for the wait (again). Anyways, this is just like when Vhalan was explained. What I write and what Twitch tells Chal doesn't necessarily coincide. Off that subject, I hope you enjoy! Oh, and Tear's name isn't related to crying. You're _other_ tear! ;)_

* * *

><p>"Get your head down, rookie." Twitch growled, yanking Tear, who was brand new to the 501st, into cover just as a Droideka he hadn't seen unleashed its guns on where he'd been standing.<p>

"Thanks, kid." He grunted.

"Hey, I know you lost your squad mate, but you need to keep your head in the game, got it?" The shiny nodded numbly.

"Grenade!" Someone's nearby warning sent the two scrambling for different cover.

Rokurr was a forest planet, just one tree after the other, and a brittle autumn chill surrounded everything. Villages were built into the massive trunks, so there was rarely a break in the plant life, though the huge mountain ranges that were blanketed in green every now and then had barren stretches of rock.

A second explosive, this one unseen and not called, landed very close to the pair, going off and knocking them over, Tear managing to put himself between the sergeant and the blast. They got up as quickly as possible while stunned, receiving no time to get their bearings before having to hurry behind another tree.

"Sarge, you okay?" Tail asked over the comm. For a moment, the girl thought he'd seen the close call, but then realized coincidence was the ruler of the call.

"Fine. What about you and the others? Is everyone alright over there?" The detour to save the rookie had at first only been a short distance, but then Pyro Squad and Twitch been forced apart during the ensuing confusion.

"We're great! I've got fourteen so far!" Adenn laughed, having overheard the pair.

"Twelve. Coords?"

"On a fifty-piece grid, we're at thirty-five." Tail growled. A barked curse caught her attention. "Fek, Cross just took a bolt."

"On my way." The sergeant leaned out to look at the battlefield and jerked her head back a moment later, narrowly saving herself from getting a pair of new burn scars.

"I'm a medic, if you need one." Tear's nonexistent med pack got a raised eyebrow until he explained he'd put it down to work on a trooper just before he had to deal with a cluster of thermal detonator-tossing B1s.

"Cross'll still have his. Stay behind me and get ready to _move_." Twitch unsheathed her arm-blades and jumped into the open, blocking frantically and running with the older soldier following closely.

They had to every now and then go to a trunk because of how many bolts were directed at them, but the two still reached where Pyro Squad was firing from behind a pair of trees barely joined at the bases. Alone, one of the gargantuan plants was roughly thirteen feet wide, so all eight firing clones and Spitfire, along with the medic who was injured, were well protected from the droids' onslaught.

"Evac notice just came in through our HUDs," Tail greeted, squatting to shoot before hurrying out of several red laser bolts' paths.

"Okay. Tear, how is he?"

"Agh, the bolt nicked his lung. I never said this, but it's good we're getting off the field."

"And now you have an entire squad who knows exactly what you said." Spitfire laughed. "G'job, shiny."

"Easy on the rookie, _rookie_. He's got a point." Dodge hopped clear from the trunk before diving back to safety, counting in his total of seventeen droid kills.

"Who're you calling a rookie, rookie?" The thirteen-year-old shot back.

"I've been in the 501st longer, shorty." And for that, the poor mechanic got the scariest look he'd ever seen.

"Call me that again and I'll demonstrate why they call me 'Spitfire'." The teenager warned.

"Gunships are here." Jax alerted.

"Dodge, help Tear get Cross clear." Twitch ordered. She hopped on top of the place where the trunks split, managing to take three droids down before having to return to the forest floor.

A commando droid appeared, attempting to sneak up on the group of clones only to be ambushed by Spitfire, who'd taken notice long before the droid had even become a threat.

More of the agile machines were appearing, just as larties started sweeping through the forest and hovering above the lush plants.

In a couple minutes, most of the ships were packed to their limits, and the one holding Pyro and Arrow Squad couldn't take a single new passenger, leaving Spitfire, who'd been dueling a pair of commandos to cover her squad, hop into a LAAT/i that had a couple squads and multiple injured men on it.

Just as the vehicles began rising, reaching the lowest branches forming a canopy, the thirteen-year-old's ship jolted, hit by a droid's rocket launcher.

"Gonna be a rough ride out of here." One of the pilots warned over a comm.

The ship made it a few hundred miles before things began sparking and the shudders of the machine increased to death throes.

* * *

><p>Whenever a ship crashed, the pilots were generally the first to go, along with any gunners, then the passengers. So when Spitfire came to, aching all over and clenching her teeth from the pain of her awkwardly twisted left arm, she was surprised that it was the co-pilot who was shaking her.<p>

"How many survived?" She rasped, slowly getting up with the man's help and looking around the dark cabin.

"Not many. Just us and three others. You're lucky you were standing near the door. Without armor, being crammed against the wall and the others was probably the reason you aren't a pancake. On that subject—"

"Save the 'you should have protection' speech for when we're out of this mess. Come on, the droids won't leave our survival up to chance." The pair began rousing the survivors, grabbing weapons and extra ammo, along with the pack of a dead medic, before working on getting the doors open.

The cockpit was jammed against a boulder, only making the co-pilot's escape from death that much more impressive, but also taking away their best bet for a quick exit.

With one of her arms clearly broken, Spitfire had great difficulty moving without causing pain to lance through her, but she managed to carve a square large enough for the older clones in a short amount of time.

"Comms are jammed," one of the men sighed, shaking his head once they were all standing on the side of a mountain, under smaller, yet still huge, trees and looking up in case of enemy crafts.

"We need to head for higher ground. A search party'll probably get here soon." The pilot muttered.

"Not to mention night hunters will be out in a couple hours." Another soldier tightened his grip on a DC-15S blaster rifle, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

"Hey, where's the kid?" The four clones looked around, and a moment later, Spitfire popped out of the ship with a pack on her shoulders.

"What? Humans still have stomachs, right?" She put the bag down and moved the top to reveal scavenged ration bars.

"Shorty's got a point." One of them said with a shrug.

"Thanks, but call me that again and you can hunt for your next meal. Name's Spitfire, end of story." Her wording and soft accent, both only recently embedded into her speech patterns from spending so much time around male clones, seemed to startle the men.

"I believe her," one of them leaned and whispered to the one threatened with hunting, the two appearing to be friends.

"Good." The pair jerked their visors to look at the teenager, not expecting her hearing to be so sharp. "Well, are we staying here to add some droids to the scrap or are we living to eat on the _Resolute_ again?"

"I'll stay here, in that case." The pilot joked.

* * *

><p>"So, who wants to make bets on who's going to be dinner here?" Line, the co-pilot and apparently a very good-humored man, dodged another of the brown, massive womp rats that seemed to be a forest variety, but still over a meter long.<p>

"What're the steaks? 'Cause I'd say we're going to be eating like royalty at this rate." Spitfire spun around, raising her foot to hit another of the pack members in the head.

Twenty-three of the animals had decided the soldiers would make a good meal, and were finding out the hard way that it was a bad decision. The clones were trying not to kill, merely because they didn't want to leave an obvious trail for any droids after them.

"We don't have time to skin and roast one of these." Globe, all hard logic and protocol, reminded.

"Looks like they've had enough." Glass, a trooper almost completely incapable of telling a lie, and usually speaking his mind most of the time, kicked the nearest retreating animal in its butt, speeding the rat's progress and getting a furious grunt.

"Agh, you need a bath," Tork, the honest clone's brother-by-choice, snorted, getting a playful shove in return for the jest.

"You can't smell past your own suit, ya jerk."

"Girls, girls, you're both stinky. We need to find somewhere to camp, now." Spitfire interrupted, pointing at the glowing foliage and trunks to their left where the large sun was setting.

"You don't think we should keep moving?" Tork craned to look over his shoulder, forgetting the wrap-around vision his HUD could provide.

"How many more womp rats do you reckon we can fight off?" With that one sentence, they began looking for somewhere to go, finally, reluctantly concluding that the trees were their best bet. One was large enough to hold all of them, with thick, close-together branches forming a sort of bowl.

Getting up was hard for the girl with a broken arm, but she refused the help of the others, stubbornly stating that she was fine. It was strange behavior to the older soldiers, who in her position wouldn't have protested to their brothers' assistance.

Later that night, after Globe took first watch, the teenager relieved him, perching slightly away from the others to face the way they'd come.

It was a true rarity when someone managed to sneak up on her, so when Line did, Spitfire felt an even mixture of surprise and irritation.

"Hey, Spitfire. Been up long?" The man greeted.

"Ten minutes. You?"

"Just got up." They lapsed into a comfortable silence, one scanning the moonlit forest for movement, the other sitting and watching his brothers. Eventually, hushed conversation returned to them.

"Should probably get some bacta on your arm. And some bandages." The pilot moved to get what was needed, but a shake from the younger clone's head stopped him.

"Later." She started to say something else, but stopped when Line ignored her and continued his actions, muttering how a broken bone shouldn't be left alone any longer than it had to. With frustration and slight dread, Spitfire removed her left gauntlet to reveal her bare arm and the many scars marring it.

The man examined them momentarily before starting to go about the business of applying the cold gel to the youngling's upper arm, which was swollen and red, before setting the bone and starting to wrap bandages around her limb.

All the while, Spitfire either bit the inside of her cheek, hissed, or just clenched her teeth to deal with the pain, eventually relaxing after her brother's strong fingers were done.

"Thanks…no." The refusal came when the pilot started to pull out a neatly folded, plastic-encased sling from the pack.

"Why are you so stubborn about this? You aren't using that arm anyways." As much as she wanted to argue, the thirteen-year-old had no response that could counter that, so she reluctantly allowed him to put the fabric on.

Only afterwards, when a pointed, prolonged stare from the older clone pinned her did Spitfire realize it hadn't been a rhetorical question.

"Just a thing I have with anything remotely linked to med bays. I'm just messed up that way."

"How messed up are we talking?" They sat next to each other to look over the forest.

"The 'none of your business' messed up. I'll save you plenty of trouble now and let you know I only tell what I want to." A frustrated sigh left the pilot, but he didn't try pushing farther. Instead, he went back to his spot after mentioning that he'd take the next watch.

"Oh, and Line," the older clone paused, twisting to see his sister's face. "Call me Fire. Everyone else in my squad does."

* * *

><p>The door opening to the basement cut Twitch off just as she started getting into the next day of her sister's adventure, and she was almost glad, because it was starting to really hurt, speaking her dead friend's name as though she was still alive.<p>

Torse came in, holding a large knife, and immediately, the soldier began frantically whispering to Chal.

"Do exactly as I say, Makto. _Exactly!_ Glare at him, act tough, don't show fear, and if he threatens you with that knife, act angry and tell him to leave me alone."

"_What?!_" The captain didn't have time to make it sound less selfish or reasonable.

"_Do it_, Chal! I'm trying to keep you alive!"

_Alive? She's asking me to be harmed in her stead. I would have gladly had she not said that. Now I'll do it with no pleasure, _the Padawan didn't find much difficulty in growing her anger, and she threw a surprisingly forceful scowl at Turner.

_Good, she's doing what I said. Maybe she can get out of this without a new scar, _Twitch hid her relief under a cowering, defeated posture, forcing tears into her eyes and a miserable, terrified expression on her face.

"Well, well. I'm surprised, _Akinta_. If that's even your real name. I expected you to be the one to hold out here, what with the tough-guy front you showed me an hour ago." The veteran flinched, whimpering while exasperation at her behavior welled up.

_Yes, yes, get to the threatening part,_ she inwardly snapped.

"Leave her alone!" The Pantoran snarled, straining angrily against her bonds.

"Here's how it is, _sweety_," the sneer in the man's face and voice couldn't have been more pronounced if he tried, "You tell me what I ask, and the wretch here doesn't get hurt."

_Yes!_ Twitch crowed, finding triumph in her supposed defeat.

_Did she—she knew! She knew he'd go after her instead!_ Guilt swelled in Makto's chest as she remembered the spiteful thoughts that had surfaced in her mind moments before. She should have felt it in her peer's Force-signature. That hadn't been protectiveness for her own well-being, that had been concern over the other girl's!

"Now, who sent you?"

"Don't answer him!" The captain burst out, eyes wide with fear and desperation that seemed completely fake when she was radiating amusement at their captor's predictability. A hard punch to her cheek drew a squeak of pain and terror.

Despite everything visible, and the act, the command had been clear enough for Chal. That flare of warning and force she'd felt when the sentence came out was perfectly real.

Even if Twitch couldn't hear her, the blue-skinned teenager had to ask, _don't you fear what he might do to you? _


	12. Clone Etiquette

_A.N. ~ it's a short chapter, granted, but I'm bored and where I was seemed like an appropriate place to end. So, please enjoy the chapter. Oh! And, merry Christmas!_

* * *

><p>It took a while for Twitch to come around, unconscious for hours from blood loss, pain, and partial exhaustion. But she did wake up, and to a fretting Padawan.<p>

"Are you insane? You knew he would hurt you because of what you had me do! Are you alright?" The words were fast and breathless, but seemed loud to the veteran's pounding head.

"Yes, to all three. Not so loud, shiny, I can't hear myself think."

"You never explained what a 'shiny' is!" The panicky tone was what made the soldier aware of how scared the Pantoran was.

"Common term for 'rookie'. Usually because a newly graduated cadet's armor is shiny, unmarked from the battlefield. If you look, some clones' armor is more scratched up and dirtier than others."

"You're calling me a rookie?!"

"With all due respect, of course. But yeah, that about sums it up. You aren't so scared now, are ya?" Chal paused, choking on her heated response as she realized her fear had been drowned in irritation.

"That is an excellent and infuriating demonstration of your experience." They shared hushed, breathy chuckles.

Then Twitch began feeling all the cuts marking her arms, shoulders, legs, and face. A couple went straight over her lips diagonally, the one closer to her right cheek longer than the second, which missed the very center of the tender skin by a millimeter or two.

"I've got plenty others I can use, if you'd like."

"No, I think I'm alright now. Thank you."

_Twitch?! Hey, are you alright? You haven't checked in yet, and I coulda sworn I felt something bad from your end a few times! _Tail's voice thundered in the teenager's head and she grit her teeth.

_You took your sweet time. We've only been tied in this basement for a day. If you don't have a tea party to attend, it would be great if you and a couple other guys came in here and beat the living daylights out of Torse, now. The wife isn't involved, and the man is armed with knives and, to my knowledge, only a single pistol._

_Nice to know your winning personality is still intact. I'll report in and we'll be over right away. K'oyacyi!_

_K'oyacyi, _she replied.

It was the closest Twitch and Tail ever came to saying 'I love you', telling each other to hold on and stay alive in one simple word.

"Did you even hear me? Twitch!" Makto gently bumped her head against the other girl's, drawing her back into reality.

"Huh? Yeah?"

"Are you still off from the blood loss?"

"Probably. What did you say?" An exasperated sigh betrayed Chal's usual serene front.

"I was asking if you had an escape plan."

"No. You?"

"Nothing."

"Well, we better get comfy. I'm getting the sense rescue stopped for drive thru or something." That lifted their moods shortly, before it became serious as the Padawan opened a new subject.

"I want to thank you. I shouldn't have doubted that you knew what you were doing."

"It's fine. You were understandably confused. It prob—scratch that, I _know_ it sounded bad when I said it."

"You didn't have much time to explain." They lapsed once again into quiet before the blue youngling once again felt the need for conversation.

"You and the members of your squad…most clones, actually. You all have such strange names…" That was a sensitive topic, if there ever was one. But Chal's tone wasn't condescending, it was curious.

"We aren't exactly given them. Many of us spend years as simple numbers, too often we die as just that. Names hold more weight than you think. They make you unique among hundreds who look and sound the same. And it's faster than CT-example, example, example, example."

"I see. If I may, what is your number?" In some cultures, sharing names was considered sacred. Among the clones, once you have a name, your number is far from anything special, but it becomes something secret, that only you and a few others know.

"CT-3758. I don't expect you to remember. I should also warn you, some clones prefer their names to numbers, and vice versa. If one offers you his number instead of a nickname, it's best to ask his preference and leave it be."

"I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything else I should know? Rules, slangs?"

"Let's see. 'Clanker' is what we generally call a droid, for obvious reasons. 'Shiny', I already explained. There are plenty of different terms for helmets, though the most common is 'buckets'. If you hear a language besides Basic, it's most likely Mando'a, and you have the right to slap anyone who calls you a 'shabuir', 'mir'osik', or 'hut'uun'."

"Alright, dare I ask what those mean?"

"Well, shabuir is basically a very strong version of 'jerk', mir'osik means 'dung for brains', and hut'uun means 'coward'. In Mando terms, being called a coward is one of the worst things possible."

So, for the next hour, Twitch coached Chal in clone etiquette, straight until a loud disturbance upstairs, shouting, and the sound of blaster fire caught their attention.

"Hopefully, a few of those bolts hit Torse." The captain muttered, watching the door wearily as it opened, then sagging with relief at the sight of Tail, Streak, Hazard, and Darys, all of whom were unharmed, though clearly fresh from a fight.

"Nice entrance. Bring any food?" The female soldier grinned, relieved as she and the Padawan were cut free, and even happier to be handed her gauntlets, belt, and guns.

"Ration bars. The best military cuisine has to offer." Hazard joked.

"Everyone relatively alright?" Tail shouldered a med pack hanging from one shoulder.

"I am unharmed, though Twitch…" Makto didn't need to further explain with so many cuts apparent on the other girl.

"Where's Turner?" The veteran sighed.

"Upstairs, so full of plasma he may as well be a generator." The sniper shrugged indifferently.

"_Stunned_." Darys added on seeing Chal's concerned expression.

"And with a hole in his shoulder that's probably soiling his fancy rug as we speak." Streak added.

"Somehow, my levels of pity are at a record low," the captain grumbled.

* * *

><p>Twitch had never been quite so uncomfortable going into the medical bay as she did a half hour after being rescued. She knew through Tsudek that a person didn't have to be a clone to be skilled in healing, but that didn't mean she liked seeing multiple non-clone medics.<p>

One, a woman with brown hair and pale, icy blue eyes hurried to help the captain, putting her hands on the teenager's shoulders as though the youngling was expected to fall over any moment.

"I'm fine, it's not like I was shot." The veteran brushed off the woman's hands, more concerned with getting a meal than some bacta.

"Why are you here? Children aren't part of the military! What happened?" The medic babbled while grabbing the healing gel and a cloth, along with clean water to wash away the blood.

"I'm here because my brother's a worrywart—"

_I heard that, _Tail growled.

_You were meant to._

"I'm not a child, and suffice it to say, this happened on the job." Twitch finished, as though she hadn't paused for a second.

"'On the job'? You're a soldier?" The woman asked incredulously while dabbing a cold cloth at the teenager's lips.

"Mmhmm."

"What happened?" As soon as her lips were left along, the soldier answered.

"The. Job." It was an irritable tone, but also a firm, 'conversation over' one.

"Well, you should know that there's probably…going to….be scarring." The medic trailed off as Twitch removed her gauntlets so her arms were bare, revealing the marks she'd become used to.

"Whatever shall I do?" The captain sighed.

* * *

><p>"Strings came by. Something about a patient with internal bleeding." Wolffe crossed his arms, standing over Kat, who was using a griever as target practice. Their base in the Beast Zone always had some monster around.<p>

"That was weeks ago. I'm fine." The light, indifferent tone got an irritated sigh.

"You don't get it. If you hadn't healed on your own, collapsed in the vents, it's possible you could have died before anyone found you."

"I'm stubborn, not stupid. If I'd started passing out, I'd've gotten out of the vents."

"Are you sure you could've made it? Because we both know it can happen faster than expected. The bottom line is you shouldn't have done it. I expect to hear you reported to Strings and helped him for a week in the med bay. I hear otherwise, and we've got a problem." Before the teenager could respond, Wolffe left.

"Sir, yes, sir." She muttered.

* * *

><p>Tail was gone, again. Twitch was for once actually taking her time, letting her body heal without pushing it. The rest of her squad had either cleared or busted their 'adopted parents', and Chal Makto was at the new Jedi Temple, studying with Kenobi. Or so the captain thought.<p>

A gentle knock on her squad's door brought the veteran's head up, unused to anyone doing such a thing. The Padawan was standing in the open doorway.

"Hello, captain."

"In down time, it's fine to call me Twitch, ma'am." The soldier stood, saluting and standing at attention.

"Er, at ease." The Pantoran seemed exceedingly uncomfortable with the action.

"You should probably know most soldiers are going to do that. You are a superior officer."

"And you the one with the most experience. I was hoping to learn from you, if it isn't a hassle." The girls had been walking to get a couple feet apart, and Twitch plopped her hand on the Jedi's head, rubbing it and messing up her hair.

"Hassle, my shebs. I'm bored out of my mind. Let's get started."

They went to the gym, where Arrow and Cheshire were at the firing range, no doubt in a competition for who had the better aim. Otherwise, surprisingly enough, the room was empty.

Twitch and Chal moved to a corner, where they had room, and went over some basics. Jab, cross, hook, and uppercut punches, then turning, side, and forward snap kicks, followed by multiple blocks designed for varying attacks.

They drilled for almost two hours before leaving to get dinner, then Makto departed for the Temple, leaving a very bored soldier behind.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ so, the next chapter will be up when it's up, but in case it doesn't come before Christmas, happy holidays!<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATION:  
><strong>

**Mir'osik: [MEER-OH-sik] dung for brains**

**Hut'uun:** **[hoo-TOON] coward (worst possible insult in Mando terms)**


	13. Thanks For Not Killing Me

_A.N. ~ sorry for the wait, guys. Writer's block doesn't take holidays. Anyways, here's a semi-Christmas-themed chapter. Enjoy :)_

* * *

><p>High Day celebrated the last day of the last month of a galaxy-wide, agreed upon standard year. <em>'The height of the year before we plummet into the new one'<em>, was part of the description.

Sale prices dropped, chocolate and other candies filled shops, and decorations were put up in the month leading up to the holiday. It was a very exciting time of the year, and though not celebrated the same in Military District, still a part of life.

The 104th and 309th were both on planet, which did disappoint Twitch, as even if she didn't put too much sentiment into holidays, she still would have liked to spend the day with Tail. But it was nice seeing Kat, and watching Claws reunite with her cubs.

The nexus purred, wrestled and nuzzled, leaving behind their natural tendency for being territorial.

Cheshire and Songbird had agreed to name their pet Stitch, after the clone deserter who'd been their go-to big brother whenever something had them troubled. Read named her friend Jace, and Arrow chose Naleeth, not explaining her decision.

In the Mess Hall, a number of the non-clone soldiers were laughing, joking, and a few were handing each other small packages.

"What're they doing?" Twitch muttered to Read as they got their food.

"Exchanging gifts is a common practice during High Day. Civilians will probably be baking and preparing large meals, too." They went to a table near the back, sitting to face the door.

"I'll never understand civvies. So what if it's the last day of the year?"

"I guess it's just important because tomorrow a new year starts. Not that that's anything particularly exciting. Just means new calendars and a handful of differently timed things." They shrugged before starting to eat, neither too interested in all the activity around them.

"Grief, it's like walking into a cadet squad's barracks," a clone with the standard buzz cut of all his brothers sat next to Twitch, seeming to be perfectly at ease seeing her. "By the way, your popper grenade worked." Realization flashed in the captain, drawing out a wide grin.

"Twenty-Nine! Got a name yet?"

"Slip. Er, your sister?" Read smiled at his confusion.

"Sister and second. I'm Read." They nodded in greeting. "Oh, and I take no offense. It's fine, it's normal to acknowledge friends before strangers."

"Wh—"

"Body language." The girls explained simultaneously.

_Guess who's home for the holidays, _came a teasing voice that nearly got a wide grin across the teenager's face.

"What's got you so happy?" The seventeen-year-old asked.

"Thinking about how far you could drive Dooku up the wall." The lie wasn't hesitant and was accompanied with the usual smirk Twitch often indulged in when she was amused.

_Great to hear you, vod. Where do we meet?_ Twitch and Tail's minds habitually established a link, forming a cord purely for the sake of attachment.

"Hmm, I could probably give him a headache the size of Alderaan." The three smiled.

"I'd pay money to see that," Slip grinned.

"I believe you," Read chuckled.

"Well, I gotta go. My keen sixth sense says I have a vod to jump." The captain quickly chewed and swallowed the last mouthful of her food before quickly leaving the Mess Hall, barely stopping to drop off her tray.

"Weird. She wasn't completely honest…" Read frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"Dunno. Probably nothing. Twitch usually says weird stuff like that."

* * *

><p>"Ack!" Twitch tumbled to the ground, laughing as Tail scrambled for his gun before pausing to glare at her, groping with one hand for his helmet.<p>

"Happy High Day," the teenager grinned, scooping up the bucket before tossing it to her brother.

"Jerk, I knew you were up to something when you cut the link." They got up, dusting off grit.

"And yet you fell for it. Good to see you." They stood, looking at each other calmly before the older clone tried grabbing his sister in a headlock, ducked and nearly being caught in a similar manner. Laughter rose as they wrestled before breaking apart, large grins on their faces.

"Young man, you let me in right this instant or so help me, _I'll_ pull rank on you!" Twitch froze, an 'oh, crap!' expression dominating her face before she and Tail both started sprinting for the nearby front gate.

Saundra was in the process of giving one of the two unlucky gate guards the dressing down of a lifetime, hand on hip and the other shoving a finger close to his visor.

"Ma'am! W—"

"Unless what you're about to say is that you'll let me in, I don't want to hear it!"

"Saundra! What are you doing? The shiny's gonna have a heart attack!" Twitch called, slowing to a stop and grinning.

"Everyone calls us that but no one explains!" The man sighed.

"You're armor is shiny. Not battle-marked like the veterans'. We'll take care of this. As you were." The rookies saluted before resuming to stand with their guns held to their chests while the three walked out of hearing distance.

"The hospitality is truly amazing." Saundra remarked drily.

"It's their job to keep civilians out. Sorry. Was there something you needed?" The captain smiled. They turned a corner out of the guards' sight and the teenager yelped as an iron grip pinched her ear. Tail grunted, wincing at the pain as the action was applied to him as well.

"I _wanted_ to see you on High Day. Honestly! Now, you two get your shebse to the house or so help me, I'll drag you there!"

"You've been teaching her Mando'a?" Tail mumbled.

"No. That's what scares me." The girl managed to wriggle free, cringing.

"Go! I expect you to be there by the time I finish shopping!" With than, Mrs. Lynn let them go and walked away without another word.

"Well, I guess we know what we'll be doing today. Might want to change, first, though." Twitch nudged her brother's arm, and he suddenly remembered the plastoid encasing his body.

"R-right. This won't be like last time, right?" They shared a shudder at the silence of the table and the overall awkwardness the one time the scout had been over at the civilians' house for dinner.

"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what those two are like during the holidays? Trust me, there's going to be no end to the talking."

* * *

><p>Kat and Ranger ran side-by-side, tailed by Claws and Shadow, every now and then trying to shove the other. The teenager laughed before springing into the river they were next to, flinging a handful of water at her friend.<p>

The older soldier crossed his arms, glaring. "No fair! You know I can't swim!"

"Strangely enough, most clones don't. You'd think that'd be part of basic training. Get in here, ya big sissy!" A stubbornly shaken head got him splashed again. "Oh, woman up! It's not that hard!"

When he still refused, the girl clambered on to the bank and grabbed his arm, stepping forward before bracing herself and pulling her brother headfirst into the water. She dove in after him and grabbed the panicking man.

They broke the surface and Kat started treading water, coaching Ranger how to do so. He angrily shoved a small wave at his sister, muttering how she had better never do such a thing again.

"Relax, it's only water. It won't bite you. Heck, you can literally march in the stuff." The younger clone demonstrated by pumping her feet up and down rapidly, knees jerking to ninety degree angles before snapping straight. Her arms remained crossed.

"Show off," the man growled.

Claws and Shadow remained on the bank, watching with bemusement. They never would understand why humans willingly encompassed themselves in water.

* * *

><p>Tsudek had hugged Tail warmly, then swatted Twitch on seeing the many healing knife wounds marking her face and demanding what had happened.<p>

"Th—"

"Don't you dare say 'the job'. What _in _the job caused this?"

"Uhh…" The teenager grinned before hurriedly picking up Jessie, bouncing the infant who screamed happily.

"Mhmm. Tail? Anything you'd like to add?" The medic rubbed the back of his neck, smiling innocently as he shook his head.

_Run! Run for your life!_ The scout joked.

_No kidding, _the two glanced at each other.

"Well, come on, then, let me see those cuts." The clones followed Lynn to the den, where he began examining the thin coats of bacta and the wounds. "This is ridiculous. These marks on your lips are going to be here forever. Just new scars to you, huh?"

"Yup. Strangely couldn't care less."

* * *

><p>"Everyone's drunk. Fighting. HELP!" Twitch sighed, pitying poor Cheshire.<p>

"How many are 'everyone'?" The captain asked.

"Let's see. There's most of the non-clone soldiers, ninety-five percent of the clones, and OUR SQUAD IS THE ONLY ONE COMPLETELY CONSISTING OF SOBER PEOPLE!" The shouting came over raucous singing.

"Hai, ai aii. Okay, we're on our way. Are Kat and Ranger back yet?"

"No idea. I—hey, watch it, chakaar!" The sound of Mando'a came before the line went dead.

"Some days…" Twitch growled. "I'm sorry, guys. This is going to get interesting. Tail, gonna need help."

"Be safe!" Saundra called as the soldiers began running in the dark towards Military District.

"So, any plans on how to stop a fight consisting of three battalions of highly trained killing machines?" Tail grunted.

"I'm working on it. My main concern is how bad it is. As you said; killing machines." The pair went the rest of the way in silence, going through the front gate into the spacious labyrinth of open area between buildings that was filled with soldiers, most in their leisure clothes.

"Oh, now this'll be fun." The scout muttered.

"Split up and find whoever might be able to help out. We need to stop this before it gets out of hand." The two broke apart, one going on the outskirts and the other plowing right into the center.

Twitch found her squad and Darys hovering uncertainly away from everyone. "Guys, we need to start getting people to bed before there's an accident. Come on, find the most sober first. The really drunk ones can come later." They dispersed, running around and checking on the nearest person.

Tail, meanwhile, had found Wolffe and Keeli, both of whom were already in the middle of easing a fight between four clones and a couple of the birth born soldiers.

* * *

><p>After nearly an hour of trying without success to reign in the many troopers, Twitch got sick of it and grabbed Read. The two scurried on top of a low storage shed and the seventeen-year-old put her pinky fingers in her mouth before releasing one of the loudest, sharpest whistles the captain had ever had the misfortune of hearing.<p>

Activity all but ceased as eyes searched for the source of the noise. Once the girls were sure everyone was paying them attention, the veteran began talking.

"Alright, that's enough! I want to see everyone heading to their bunks double time! Move it!" A handful of troops complied, while a few challenges were called out.

"On whose authority?" One very drunk man shouted.

"Captain, commando, or sober person. Take your pick. Now get in there!" The girl pointed toward the main complex. More left, but about forty stubborn clones and others refused to budge.

"Y'know, this is a real pain in the shebs," Read sighed as she and her superior hopped down.

"No kidding. Come on, let's get them inside." Wolffe, Keeli, Tail, Ranger, Darys, and all the girls began herding the men and women, nexus occasionally helping.

By the time everything was said and done, it was very late, everyone was tired, and none of them had avoided getting hit by someone at least once.

"Happy High Day. Goodnight." Kat panted, patting Ranger's shoulder before promptly sitting down on the spot with Claws, using the nexu as a huge pillow.

There were muttered goodbyes before everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Twitch got up, taking care not to wake Tail or any of her squad members as she slipped out of the room. Nightmares apparently didn't take holidays.<p>

The captain wandered outside, shivering in the cold air as she clambered to the top of a random building, laying down and staring up at the brilliant night sky. It was clear and filled with stars, smudged with pinks and blues from distant nebulae.

"Little sleep for the stubborn, huh?" The girl sat up, hand reaching for her guns before stopping. Darys was smirking, sitting comfortably on the edge of the roof.

"Good job. I didn't even hear you." The Umbaran laid down beside her, big brown eyes wide as he looked up.

"You taught me well." They stayed quiet, until Twitch got tired of the silence.

"Hey, in case I fall asleep, you're over the whole 'finding favor' thing, right?" The joke wasn't met with humor, just pursed lips and a tight nod.

_You know he likes you, right?_ Read's words came back to the captain, who crossly shook her head.

_He does _not_!_ She inwardly yelled, barely maintaining the barrier between her mind and Tail's.

"I-I really am sorry for what happened two years ago. O-on Umbara when I…" The male teenager cringed, feeling his cheeks heating up. He knew they would be tinged black from his embarrassed blush.

"It's fine. You didn't understand what you did wasn't normal for humans." The boy wished his friend wouldn't speak like that. It wasn't too hard to understand what she was saying, but every now and then she'd make up a line that made him stop to question her wording. Even if it wasn't too strange.

"I still have no idea. It's strange, how near-humans can have such different customs from pure-blooded ones."

"Well, you won't have to worry about that with so few people your age in the army."

"Hmm." Twitch sat up, tilting her head curiously as she looked at the older teenager. His face was dappled with color and his eyes skipped over hers nervously.

Despite her experience, the captain was still only a child in some instances, regardless of being very close to the age of sixteen. She was unsure of things that most civilians would understand as a part of life.

"Y'know," the Umbaran said around ten minutes later, long after the girl had laid back down and he'd forgotten himself in the stars. "I still favor you." And then he realized exactly what had left his mouth. He slapped a hand over his lips, eyes wide and heart pounding.

_Why the kriff did I just say that?! I'm dead!_

He risked a glance at Twitch to see her looking at him, not with anger, or happiness, but surprise and hints of an emotion he needed a minute to recognize as fear.

_Tail said this sort of thing intimidated her…is he right?_

"Oh." The veteran choked out. She couldn't exactly think of anything else to say. Read had been right, as usual, and now she had no idea what to do about it. "W-well, um…thanks. G-goodnight." The young clone hopped up.

"Twitch!" She paused, looking at Darys as he scrambled to his feet. "I-er…th-thanks for not killing me."


	14. Kill Him

_A.N. ~ sorry for the wait, guys. I'll get the disclaimer over with now and remind you that I own nothing of Star Wars, I only own my ONs._

_And Happy New Year!_

* * *

><p><em>So…<em>

Twitch had woken up long after her sisters, and she had therefore missed breakfast. All she really felt like doing was lying in bed, but something about that felt just about too lazy, and Ciryc was getting restless, so she hoped up.

"Okay, bud. How about some hunting?" The young nexu growled in agreement, nosing her hand and impatiently waiting as the teenager got on her boots and grabbed her weapons. They walked out, and the captain checked over their link to see Tail busy helping Streak and Hazard, both of whom had some nasty hangovers.

_Some things just don't change, _she thought with a small smile, remembering when Zeta Squad had graduated and her brothers had over-celebrated. That hadn't been a pleasant night for anyone.

The two strolled out of the district, casually heading for one of the many forests surrounding Theed. It was a warm day, and activity already filled the city.

"Hmm, I wonder if Darys actually thought I'd kill him…" The soldier commented to her feline companion, forgetting that he couldn't reply. She suddenly remembered what exactly the Umbaran had said to make him thank her in such a way and red started touching her cheeks.

_Crap, what am I doing? It was nothing!_ She grit her teeth, wondering what to do. _I can't tell Tail, because even if I let Darys live, he won't…_

An inquisitive squawk from Ciryc brought her out of thought. The nexu flicked his head towards their destination, lowering his front half excitedly.

"Race?" A nod, and the captain smirked. "Ready? Go!" They took off, dodging each other, nearby people, and obstacles, and trying to get the upper hand.

* * *

><p>Claws had eaten the day before, so she didn't need to hunt for a while. Leaving a very bored Kat to decide on what to do. She sighed and decided to search out Ranger to see if he was available.<p>

In the gym, he and Shadow were carefully wrestling, with cloths padding the nexu's claws. The teenager smiled, standing at the doorway to observe for a moment before turning and heading for the workout room Twitch's squad always used.

She often helped Arrow, Read, Cheshire, and Songbird train Naleesh, Jace, and Stitch when she had nothing else to do.

* * *

><p>"For fek's sake, how hard can it be to catch a karkin' nuna?" Twitch panted, glaring after the reptavian. Ciryc sat down with a huff, human counterpart following suit. They were well out of her and Tail's range, so she could do, think, or say whatever she wanted freely.<p>

"Who are you?" The voice startled the captain and she shot to her feet, right hand on her half-drawn gun. A young girl stood unimpressed, probably around seven years old with red hair, blue eyes and a slight pig nose. She tightly held a ragged stuffed toy, likely a rabbit.

"Are you out here alone?" The soldier had to wonder how much of her foul language the child had heard.

"You answer first!" The stranger ordered, stomping her foot for emphasis. It was a very Aris-like movement.

"My name is—" Twitch choked on her answer, strangely reluctant to show her connection to the military. "Akinta," she abruptly finished.

"Hmm, funny name. I'm here with my brother and friends. I'm Brandy!" Her smile and those bright blue eyes hit the veteran hard, and she could hardly believe how much this little girl was like her passed adopted sister.

"Oh, and you say _my _name is funny." The teenager smiled, kneeling to be on more even terms with the seven-year-old.

"Uh-huh. Come meet Borno!" The small human grabbed the older girl's hand, completely unafraid of Ciryc or any weapons.

Past some thick foliage was a large, clear pond surrounded by four people; two boys and two girls. Brandy loudly announced that she had found new friends and introduced Twitch. There was some excitement when the nexu appeared, but after reassurance, they calmed down.

"I'm Borno, Brandy's big brother." A teenager around thirteen with chocolate-brown hair and slightly darker eyes than his sister stood, in swimming trunks that revealed his thin, averagely-muscled form.

The girl with light blond hair and green eyes called herself Jerra, the other female who looked nearly identical—exactly, really—said hers was Jenna, and the remaining boy with black hair, black eyes, and a freckled face was Klerik.

"Three chocolates say she won't be able to tell us apart." Jenna nudged her sister.

"Make it five chocolates and we have a deal."

"Make it eight chocolates and I'm in." Twitch betted, smirking as the other children shook their heads.

"Okay. Klerik, make sure she doesn't peak." The boy put a hand over the veteran's eyes and she listened to the rapid footsteps. In about ten seconds, the fingers moved and she examined the twins, both of whom stood side by side.

"So, which of us is who?" The left girl grinned.

"Hope you have those chocolates," the right laughed. She was pointed at.

"You're Jenna," the finger moved to the left, "and you're Jerra."

"Wrong!" They crowed.

"Nope, you're just bluffing." After a few moments, spent with the smirk on her face and her hand on her hip, Twitch's steady gaze broke through.

"Well, you're right. But, we don't have the chocolates right now. Or at all, actually. Sorry." Jerra rubbed the back of her neck.

"That's fine. I don't have any, either." They shared a chuckle before Borno broke the silence.

"Are those real guns?"

"I think they are," Klerik grinned.

"Yeah." The soldier cringed, not comfortable with the direction the conversation had suddenly swerved to.

"DC-17s. Military grade, right?"

"Klerik here's kind of a gun geek." Jenna explained on seeing the golden-eyed girl's surprise.

"Well, you're not wrong. Full name?"

"Deecee seventeen hand blaster. Heavy pistol." The dark-haired boy gave a confident shrug.

"Exactly." They shared a momentary smile, both pleased.

"Can I—" A shaken head cut off the boy, who looked unhappy, but nodded. "Okay. Wait, how did you get those?"

"Magic." That got her a sour look. Her comm beeped and she glanced at it, considering ignoring it, but in the military, doing such a thing just wasn't a good idea. "Sorry. Gotta take this." The girl smiled apologetically before walking out of the clearing.

"Twitch, you're probably gonna want to hear this and you're not gonna like it," Tail sighed.

* * *

><p>Twitch viciously shoved open one of the doors to High Command, storming in and striding towards the lift with a dangerous look on her face. The Rodian woman at a desk tried stopping her, but she just kept moving, shouldering away the hand placed on her shoulder.<p>

_Twitch, maybe you should…_

_Don't even bother, Tail. You know there's no stopping me when I'm this angry._ That kept the scout quiet, but he stayed in the back of her mind, waiting to see what happened next with a mingle of dread and curiosity.

The teenager went into the turbolift, waiting without trying to stem her boiling emotions. She'd learned that when she was as emotionally riled as she currently was, trying to calm down would only make her more likely to snap.

At the third highest floor, she stepped out and continued briskly to a door, throwing it open and taking in Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Yoda, Wolffe, and Cody, all of whom were staring at her, though not with surprise. The Rodian had called up and warned them of the likelihood of the young soldier's appearance.

"So, shockingly, apparently everyone _else_ is crazy and I'm the only sane person here!" She growled, crossing her arms.

"Captain, how nice of you to join us." Kenobi greeted.

"I wish I could say I'm glad to be here, but I'm still working on 'not killing Grievous'. There's no way he's actually defecting to the Republic. You lot have _got_ to know this."

"Possible, it is. Powerful, the resolve emanating from him is. Hate Dooku, he now does." Yoda seemed unfazed by the torrent of emotions coming from the captain.

"Are you sure? Because I don't have to remind you it's possible to manipulate your Force-signature."

_Honestly, she's worse than Kat sometimes,_ Wolffe thought irritably.

"I believe one of your squad members can read body language?" Plo Koon murmured.

"Yes, though I'm not sure she'd be able to read someone like him." A prompting eyebrow from Kenobi drew out a sigh as she raised her left arm, typing into the comm without looking away from the higher-ranked officers.

"Read here," an older version of Twitch's voice said.

"One question, fast answer. Could you read General Grievous?"

"Read someone whose eyes are the only visibly organic matter on their body? I could try, but I can't promise an accurate answer. I give it a seven out of ten chance that I won't be able to get everything right."

"Acknowledged. Standby." She turned off her comm. "So, do we have any absolute way to make sure he's actually telling the truth?" Shaken heads.

The door opened and the girl turned to a view of nothing but white. She hopped back and glared at the cyborg, who stood with no visible weapons, had his arms bound behind his back, and was shadowed by two clone guards.

_Honestly, only two? This is just asking for him to escape,_ the teenager inwardly groaned.

"I was not aware the child was here as well," Grievous shifted, breaking into a coughing fit.

"Stinks to see you, too." The captain half closed her eyes, tilting her head. The condescending tone the general had used ran off her like water on a Gungan. Visibly. Inwardly, she was battling with the strong urge to attack the massive white man.

"I suppose this would be a bad time to mention you and your squad will be accompanying him until we're sure he can be trusted," Kit Fisto swept an upturned hand towards the youngling and cyborg.

"What?" They both blinked, momentarily dumbfounded.

* * *

><p>Twitch smacked Steam upside her head the moment the younger teenager moved towards Grievous, getting a venomous glare.<p>

"As much as you lot want to attack him, and as much as I wish I could let you, he's not to be harmed. Is that understood?" The last three words were especially forceful.

"He's a filthy Separatist! Do you have any idea how many of our troops—"

"Yes!" The captain interrupted Songbird. "But, as I said, _not. To. Be. Harmed_. Am I clear?" Her tone was harder than phrik, and the other girls reluctantly nodded.

"She's serious, Steam." Read added, scowling at the hothead.

"Mm." Was all that was said before the fourteen-year-old vacated the room.

"Disobedience is why we used droids," Grievous murmured.

"And it's also why we won. I highly suggest you don't bring up the Clone Wars unless it's necessary." Twitch still had her arms crossed indifferently, hiding her growing tide of emotions. Eventually, she was going to snap, and when she did, she didn't want to be there when it happened.

* * *

><p>The nexus naturally attacked Grievous straight away, only half-heartedly stopped and reprimanded by their respective human counterparts. When Claws saw the former general, it had taken Kat, Twitch, Read, and Arrow to hold the feline back.<p>

There were at least four of the girls with him at all times, and their comms were always easily accessible and to be kept as clear as possible. The squad took shifts sleeping and eating, everyone doing so whenever they weren't on duty, trading off out of necessity or free will or due to boredom.

Traditionally, guards were meant to be silent, especially when stationary, but as long as they kept their voices low, occasionally using Mando'a, it was allowed, because the hours were long and not much happened, though there were usually frequent pauses in conversation to listen when waiting outside of the cyborg's room, in case of audible foul play.

They were heavily armed, always at least one person over the age of fourteen, albeit every now and then a male clone or two would join in for extra security, making the teenagers unsure of whether it was a matter of safety or mistrust in their abilities.

"Man, for a glorified tinnie, he's a real pain in the shebs." Songbird murmured, putting her hands on the back of her neck, her arms creating an M shape as a result.

"Trust me, you don't want to call him a droid to his face. He gets riled up really easily." Twitch warned.

"So?" Bucky tilted her head.

"So, weapons or not, he could crush your skull with one hand with as much effort as it takes to break someone's neck. _Regardless_," the captain interrupted a rising protest, "of whether or not he managed to catch you, other troops aren't as agile and it isn't our job to antagonize him, we just have to make sure he doesn't do anything. If he turns out to be a hostile, you can do whatever you want."

"Hmm, well, if he does end up crossing the Republic, we'll just run circles around him until he gets dizzy enough to be taken down." Arrow grinned.

"Don't underestimate his speed, either. He's faster than you think."

"Grief, are you the president of his fan club?" Song rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm trying to keep you from making the same mistake I did."

"Did you not tie your shoelace tightly? That happens to me a lot, too. Don't worry." Bucky gently patted her CO's shoulder.

"Um, no…"

"Bucky, don't speak." Songbird sighed.

"Your limp?" Arrow guessed, ignoring the other two bickering girls.

"As usual, bull's-eye. He got my leg during the Battle of Moleen. No matter how confident you are in your abilities, don't underestimate anyone directly related to Sith. They usually come as cowards, but they don't come weak."

"Wait…Grievous is Dooku's brother?" Bucky looked mortified.

"No." Twitch closed her eyes, drawing on her reserves of patience.

"Son?" Shaken heads.

"No, she meant he was associated with the Sith order, not a blood relative of any of them." Arrow growled.

"Honestly, you must be the dumbest person in the GAR," Song muttered.

"I will take that as a sign of your own inner turmoil." The thirteen-year-old asserted.

"You do that, then." They lapsed into silence, listening to the faint, raspy breathing coming from behind the door they were guarding, two with their backs to it, two standing to face the entrance.

In around two hours, there was a sharp rap on the door to tell the girls Grievous was coming out, and he stepped into view with a heaving sigh.

Just then, Read, Cheshire, Steam and Dream all came strolling down the hallway, having eaten before coming. The two groups traded off, either leaving to get breakfast, shower, or sleep. No one was too enthusiastic about the thought of the gym.


	15. A Life Saved

_A.N. ~ hey, guys, sorry that took so long. Please enjoy this short but hopefully passable chapter!_

* * *

><p>"So, flesh and blood opponents. Somehow, this worries me less than Bane still somehow being alive. I thought you killed him." Twitch was eating with Kat, addressing things that previously had been lost from memory during other events.<p>

"So did I. Apparently taking off his hand and shooting his chest doesn't cut it. Inflicting head shots is necessary to ensure his death." They shared a sigh before eating the rest of their meals, surveying the Mess Hall.

"Anyway, how much of a threat do you think they are? The human Separatists?"

"I'm not that worried. They're some of the worst shots I've ever seen. Bane was the only one who managed to do any serious damage."

"Good. Means they weren't trained very well. On a different note, I'm going to take another shift. Ciryc, do what you like, just stay in the district." The nexu growled and nosed her, clearly stating his preference for them to remain together.

"Well, at least you two are getting along well enough." The other teenager grinned.

"We're natural get along-ers." The captain joked, standing with her tray and followed by her feline companion. A few minutes later found her swapping places with Read.

The group consisted of her, Dream, Cheshire and Rogue, along with Ciryc and Stitch. The two nexus approached, sniffed, and nuzzled each other before curling up beside their respective humans, all of whom were standing and leaning against walls.

"This is starting to become pointless. He doesn't do anything useful all day," the youngest of them muttered in Mando'a.

"High Command's probably still trying to figure out what to do." The veteran shrugged, speaking in kind.

"What are you two saying?" Dream murmured.

"Nothing productive." Cheshire mumbled.

_Twitch, leaving the planet soon. Stay in one piece, alright?_ Tail murmured.

_Only if you do. Don't worry about any opposing humans in white armor. Their aim is apparently terrible, from what Kat's told me._ A momentary glow of affection for each other ran through the two clone's links before it was cut.

* * *

><p>"We're really trusting him. Hmph." Steam grumbled.<p>

"Yes. At least he won't be fighting on the surface." Twitch replied. She was wearing her gauntlets, belt complete with all her usual demolitions expert doohickeys, guns, was wearing her cloak, and had her electrostaff strapped to her back.

Everyone was fully armed.

They fell silent as soon as Grievous opened his door. The entire squad, plus nexus, was present, and they began escorting the cyborg towards the docks where the _Triumphant_ would be waiting.

"It appears I owe you an apology, captain." The former general said as they walked through the corridors, noticing her limp.

"If you wanted to apologize to everybody you ever hurt, emotionally or physically, it would take the remaining years of your life." She stated. That was the closest the fifteen-year-old was going to get to verbal attacks.

"And a few more, I suspect. I will admit, for someone who is not a Jedi and lacking technological enhancements, you are a decent fighter." The response caught her off-guard and Twitch hesitated, unsure of how to reply.

"It's a pity you fought for the Separatists, considering your own abilities," was all she could think of.

"Well, you must be crazy." Steam muttered to her CO, shocked at the civility of the conversation.

"I am disgusted with myself for believing Dooku's lies." He admitted.

"So which lie actually pushed you over the edge?" Read murmured, mostly to herself. She hadn't expected to get an answer.

"I discovered he was the one who arranged for the shuttle crash that caused me to become a cyborg, and had the Geonosians who executed the surgery tamper with my mind when I'd specified for such a thing to not happen." A sense of disgust was almost palpable from the girls at the concept of anyone committing such a shameless, intrusive, selfish act.

"Oh, somebody add that to the already-long list of reasons for why we should Kill that shabuir," Songbird joked.

"Can't. The spot where we left off is buried under the rest of the flimsi making it up," Cheshire reminded, acting completely serious.

"You are quite talkative, for guards." Grievous tilted his head.

"Nothing about us is conventional." Arrow growled curtly.

"Um, Arrow, that wasn't condescension, that was curiosity," Read mumbled.

"I thought you couldn't read him, _Read_." The sniper hissed.

"I don't have to. It's called using your ears!" The two got into a quiet-yet-heated argument, but broke off as soon as the group left the building, heading towards the exit of Military District.

The cyborg bowed his head with a sharp, short intake of breath, pupils contracting under the midday's sun. He'd spent days inside, so the light was unexpected. The clones cringed, blinking rapidly, but were otherwise unaffected.

At the exit, in a heart-stopping moment, Twitch noticed Saundra out of the corner of her eye, and barely managed to keep her gaze aimed straight ahead as she fervently shouted in her head for the woman to not associate herself with any soldiers.

_Come on, don't put a huge bulls-eye on you! Go away, go away, go away! No, don't come towards us! No, no, no! Don't do it, don't…oh, no…_

"Um, excuse me, is that who I think it is?" Mrs. Lynn asked, using a cautious, quiet tone; the one strangers indulged in.

_Good, good, be smart. Don't tell him anything. Don't act like you know me._

"If you're referring to Grievous, then yes, ma'am." The captain replied in a calm, composed tone. Official, cold, not recognizable as a friend's voice.

"And a group of teenagers are escorting him?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Does this female know you?" The cyborg peered at the leader.

"No." She replied.

"And I'm not a teenager," Cheshire mumbled, not particularly bothered by the mistake.

"Excuse us, ma'am, we need to keep moving," the captain nodded respectfully before starting to walk again, leaving Saundra behind.

* * *

><p>"You're actually <em>protecting<em> him?!" A gang of people, most likely rebels, had surrounded the squad and Grievous, and negotiating had failed at a remarkable rate.

"This turns ugly, you are not allowed to fight. Leave that to us," Twitch ordered the ex-general before raising her voice to reply. "He is being guarded until further notice, continuously monitored."

"You should kill him." The apparent leader said in a low raspy voice. "ATTACK!" The shout immediately had the girls reaching for their weapons.

"Do not kill or seriously injure. Disable them!" The veteran yelled over the gang's battle cry while taking out her electrostaff.

There were at least two dozen of the men and women, but including nexus, the odds were roughly two to one.

"Read, Bucky, stay close to Grievous. Nobody gets too close, got it?" The captain whacked a man in the stomach, jolting his body with a strong electrical current before sweeping a woman's legs out from under her, all the while staying only a few feet from her charge.

"Right."

Ciryc leapt onto a nearby attacker, batting her head strongly with both forepaws before moving on to the next target.

_Didn't train him for this scenario. Huh, guess Kat was right when she said nexus can understand Basic,_ she mused.

But as the skirmish went on, things started, little by little, getting worse. More and more people appeared to attack, spreading the rest of the squad farther and farther apart. Soon, Twitch was struggling to keep up with the tide of hostiles.

"We need to end this right now. Give it everything you've got!" She shouted.

"I could be of assistance," the cyborg offered.

"Sorry, but frankly, we can't trust you to not kill anybody. Just hold on." The soldier panted, swiftly disabling three more opponents. In her peripheral vision, she could see Read being forced away from her position.

Bucky was frantically swiping her whip around, felling people with its electrical charge.

Soon, the CO was the only one still close enough to defend the ex-general, and that required her constant movement. She also had to sacrifice defense for offense, receiving bruises and cuts. A crowbar cracked into her ribs, drawing out a short bark of pain.

Seeing her weakness, the rebels, whose ranks were finally starting to thin, pressed their attacks on harder, hoping to overwhelm her.

Finally, a second blow hit her in the back as she was occupied with someone else, and a woman lined up a shot with a pistol.

_Crap, I can't block in time! No chance to move so I can reduce the damage, either. It'll hit me somewhere in my chest. Best case scenario, it hits a lung and I have a small chance at survival. Worst case is it hits my heart and I die almost instantly,_ she thought frantically.

Just as the trigger was pulled, a white-and-black, metal arm went in front of the gun, taking the laser bolt. That unexpected action from Grievous was all that Twitch needed to knock the gun away and get on her feet, wincing at bruises.

In a few more minutes, the squad had completely reassembled, everyone showing varying injuries. The nexus were largely unharmed, though clearly exhausted. Dream was supporting Rogue, whose leg was clearly broken, and most of the soldiers were displaying bruises or cuts of some kinds.

"Everyone alright?" The veteran checked, putting away her staff. Nods and mumbled affirmatives met the question.

* * *

><p>Once onboard the <em>Triumphant<em>, the girls who were hurt in the attack the most went to the medical bay while the remaining teenagers took Grievous to his new quarters. Twitch, after that, reported to Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe.

Kat, Claws, Ranger and Shadow, along with a couple non-clone soldiers, relieved the rest of the exhausted squad, which was the conclusion of interesting activity on the ship. Everyone was either sleeping, eating, or in the med bay.

* * *

><p><em>He saved my life. I don't like the thought or the irony, but that monster actually took damage in order to keep me safe. Was that just a trick to gain my trust, or did he genuinely want me to live? I doubt he actually would have cared if I'd been killed, though,<em> Twitch frowned, tossing and turning on her bed as she tried finding a comfortable position; something that didn't exist when she was troubled.

She'd been replaying that scene over and over in her head, remembering how close she was to dying and how unaffected by that knowledge she'd been.

Eventually, she gave up on sleep and left for Grievous' quarters, letting one of the male troopers go and assuming his place with her back to the door. She didn't recognize the other guards, but even if she did, the likeliness of conversation was almost nonexistent.

_Why would the one who tried to end my life save it?_


	16. Tor

_A.N. ~ sorry for the wait, again...  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>He's different from the others,<em> Twitch thought as she struggled to her feet, panting and shaking from exhaustion and pain. _The others just try to shoot, but this one is stronger, smarter. He isn't tricked by my technique. He's like Echo; doesn't let all the spinning around disorient him. Crap, this is bad._

The stormtrooper, this one with blue markings a shade darker than the 501st's traditional coloring and a black-painted shoulder pauldron, was unfazed by her combat style and had managed to actually gain the upper hand in the fight.

"You are beaten. Surrender." He ordered, deep voice reverberating with a threatening tone.

_No one else from my squad nearby, they're with Grievous. Nobody'll come this way for a while, judging on location. This is going to be a tough fight._

"No way. But if _you_ give up now, I'll go easy on you," she couldn't help but grin, preferring to appear cocky rather than serious in her given situation, especially since it was more likely to irritate her opponent.

"Arrogant. Pitiful." They darted toward each other, this time with the captain unsheathing the blades in her gauntlets.

_I have to block more and only attack if I see an opening. Play it safe with this one._

They exchanged a few blows, punching and kicking rapidly before leaping back, one visibly sweating and breathing heavily and the other's features hidden behind a helmet.

"It would haunt my sleep to kill a child. Surrender," the man ordered.

"Hah! Funny, because killing you would give me an especially good sleep." The teenager grinned before trading her gauntlets for her electrostaff, charging while spinning the weapon with no apparent fear.

The stormtrooper sighed before drawing a vibroknife out of its sheath on his belt, ducking the first swing while bringing his arm up. The blade met the grey metal and knocked it aside before he darted in to send a hard kick into Twitch's side.

She managed to block, but it still knocked her into the wall. The knife swept toward her face, but the girl dodged and jabbed her elbow into the white-armored attacker's visor, tilting him back while her other hand dropped her staff to knock the helmet clean off. Taking away his HUD would help, after all.

The veteran ducked the weapon again, grabbing her own before back-flipping to relative safety. Looking up, her lips slightly parted to see the face of a clone. He was bald and badly scarred on the right side of his face, so much so as to look grotesque, but his eyes and the unmarked features were easily recognizable.

"Surprised? You shouldn't be." The clone darted forward while Twitch was distracted, throwing several hard punches into her abdomen before retreating a few paces.

"Deserting, that's perfectly acceptable. But siding with the enemy? Inexcusable. Cowardly. Idiotic. You're fighting your own brothers, you shabuir. You're helping Dooku kill them!" She dashed forward, once again switching to her arm-blades before countering the vibroknife and slashing at his chest.

"The Republic made us, forced us to fight in a war we had no part in until they bred us. They gave us no choice. Slavery." He said while backing up, unharmed.

"I'm well aware of the Republic's faults, but the Separatists are no better. They kill civilians without mercy, hurt anyone who doesn't submit to them. They are the embodiment of evil!"

"And yet you fight with that monster, Grievous."

"Orders, Tor. My squad usually gets the dumb ones, but we still follow them."

"'Tor'?" The fighting had been fragilely postponed, if only for a few moments.

"Traitor. But I like knowing who I kill, so what's your real name?"

"'Tor'…" The man murmured, a contemplative look on his face. "I like that. My name's Tor. But as a courtesy, I'll answer your last question. I used to be called Slick." The captain froze, realization dawning, along with a burning sense of anger.

"You betrayed your brothers to protect them, but now you just kill them! You're no better than a Sith, hut'uun!" She was too furious to remember caution as she threw herself towards him, slicing and dodging, making a good large cut on his arm appear.

"Oh, you know about the first time? Yeah, I decided it's more of a mercy to kill them than let 'em keep living as slaves."

"From one clone to another, you're a disgusting moron!" She caught his arm, preparing to break it. He backhanded her temple, knocking the fifteen-year-old to the ground.

She began rolling away, but he stomped on her chest, pinning her. "Clone, huh? I guess you do look like one of us."

"Good." Her blade swiftly cut into his leg, though a wince was hidden at the pain caused by his boot landing on her chest. Slick—no, Tor, limped back, gritting his teeth. Once again, they were separated by a few feet with fists raised.

_I'm losing. Gotta be something I can do. He's too fast to let me draw my guns, I'd get hit. The last time I tried proved that. _

"Funny how you don't remember me. I didn't do too much, but I did try to hamstring you." She blocked with both arms, sliding back from a strong side-kick.

"Hm, I remember now. Pitiful."

"By the way, I was Chopper's sergeant for a while."

"Who?" Wrath boiled through her and Twitch caught his leg the next time it came at her, using one arm to hold it and the second to smash her elbow down on his knee, breaking the joint. A cry of pain lanced through the air and he retreated a couple meters.

"One of your squad on Christophsis, you idiot! And just in case you didn't know, Dooku tortured him to death personally!" A veil of smoke appeared, and when it cleared, Tor was gone. "Coward," the veteran spat before turning and limping away.

* * *

><p>"You've been quiet. Everything alright?" Read asked, sitting on the bed next to Twitch in the medical bay while a couple medics checked them over for injuries.<p>

"No, I need to report to the general." She hopped off the bed, getting a venomous look from the man examining her. "I only got punched a few times, nothing's broken. I'll come back later."

"You're lying," her second called as she walked toward the door.

"Absolutely." Soon, the captain was at the bridge, nipping the skin inside her cheek as she tried to ignore the pain from her bruises.

"Captain, was there something you needed?" Wolffe asked, walking over as she saluted, going to attention.

"Sir, this is probably something that should be put bluntly. A traitor named Slick attacked me during the battle. He'd already been caught on Christophsis during the first Clone War, and must have escaped sometime later." Her voice was low, but carried a note of anger.

"Better tell the general. This way." They went into a separate room for communications, where Plo stood alone, stroking his mask with one hand contemplatively.

"General, Captain Twitch has reported something of importance." The older clone nodded and she stepped forward.

"Sir, a traitor named Slick was caught on Christophsis during the first Clone War. I fought him today in the attack. He said he was trying to free his brothers by killing them." The last part wasn't exactly necessary, but she'd felt the need to say it anyways.

"That is rather troubling. He escaped?"

"To my knowledge, yes."

"Hm, I must report this to the Council. Dismissed." The soldiers saluted before turning on their heels and walking out.

Twitch kept her face carefully blank, fully aware of how she didn't have a helmet to hide her emotions.

"Don't get too riled up. His information's probably old, so he can't do much." Wolffe murmured.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm just worried about what he might do. His facial scarring was pretty distinctive, but when it comes down to it, he could still temporarily infiltrate the GAR."

"Worrying about it right now won't help. Go get some rest. And visit the med bay," the commander gestured toward a bruise appearing on her cheek.

"Already did, sir."

"Then go again and actually stay still for the medic."

"Ugh, being predictable is such a pain. Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>She supposed sleeping would have been the better option, but Twitch knew it would be futile when she was as troubled as she was. So, she was in the gym, beating her free time away on a punching bag. She'd just spent four hours guarding Grievous, so she had time to either eat or sleep. Or make her knuckles bleed, as was the case.<p>

Despite the dark liquid smearing her hand and the bag, she continued rhythmically throwing a cross, jab, hook, side kick, turning kick, and then repeating the process, switching front legs every minute or so.

"Ah, kid, maybe you should ease up, there…" The soldier next to her suggested, only getting a shaken head in reply. He was human, though not a clone, with clearly dyed blue hair and pale grey eyes. After a few more minutes, he sighed. "You're going to break something."

"Hey, di'kut." Kat called, tossing her sister a soaked face towel which was promptly used to wipe off the blood on the punching bag, then the captain's fists.

"Thanks, shorty."

"We're the same height, you know," the lower ranked teenager grumbled. Claws was wandering over to the place Ciryc was lying, curling up beside her cub before falling asleep as well.

"Yeah, but you called me a di'kut, so I called you short. It all evens out in the end." The girls exchanged amused smirks before falling silent, continuously slamming their fists into their respective bags.

"Do you even feel that?" The man mumbled.

"It helps me think, the veteran replied distractedly, still trying to come up with a feasible way to catch or stop Slick should he try infiltrating the Republic. When her mind came up with nothing useful for five minutes, she hit the equipment especially hard with a muttered curse.

"Man, you're so riled up I don't even need to be Read to see it," Kat grinned.

"Your powers of observation are truly amazing. Really, I'm shocked," Twitch remarked monotonously.

"Come on, what's so annoying? Did someone actually manage to beat the crap out of you? Looks like it."

"He landed a few blows, that's it. And he retreated, so I won, end of story."

"Ha! You left him alive? Who was it, Cad Bane?" The amusement was only met by a wall of irritation.

"No, a stormtrooper who didn't have his head shoved up his shebs. Just drop the subject."

"Aw, but now I'm curious. Was it hand-to-hand?"

"No, Kat, I got a bruise on my cheek from a blaster bolt. What do you think?" Another solid kick sent the punching bag nearly horizontal with the floor.

"Okay, okay, I just didn't expect a stormtrooper to be able to best you in close combat."

"H-he didn't! Weren't you listening? _He_ retreated, with a good number of cuts, bruises, and a broken leg I might add." If there was one thing Kat was good at, it was getting under her sister's skin.

"And he still managed to bruise you up." There was that sly grin.

"Ne'johaa." Twitch muttered, ignoring the blood that had started seeping out of her hands again.

* * *

><p>"I'd usually give you a lecture on breaking your hand like this, but you'd be amazed how many people come in a day because of the exact same thing." Strings murmured, smearing bacta on her right hand before gently, tightly wrapping it in bandages, using one hand to keep the bone in place.<p>

"Ngh, what can I say, beating punching bags until your knuckles bleed is great for relieving stress."

"Di'kut. Alright, where else are you hurt?" He poked the bruise on her cheek, getting an irritated scowl.

"Just a few bruises here and there. They're fine." The captain mumbled.

"Uh-huh. Well, don't go punching anything for a while and only shoot with your left hand if you have to fire your gun." The teenager hopped off the bed with a nod and thank you before leaving to relieve one of the people guarding Grievous.

The girls present outside of the cyborg's room were Arrow, Read, Dream, and Bucky. The first and last of the named girls always seemed to be inseparable, despite the younger's lack of intelligence.

"Oi, anyone who wants or needs to trade off can." Read nodded after a few moments of silence, leaving for what was most likely a long sleep.

* * *

><p><em>A.N. ~ I don't really have too much to say besides 'goodbye', soo...goodbye!<em>

**MANDO'A DEFINITIONS AND PRONUNCIATIONS:**

**Ne'johaa: [Neh-JOH-hah] Shut up**


	17. Coda

_A.N. ~ well, here's this story's conclusion. Like heck it's going to be the end of everything, though ;) I'll see how quickly I can get the next one up. Thanks for all the reviews and support, guys. It's been a real help. :) _

_Oh, by the way, my mom's being herself and asking me to make things a little lighter. Got any suggestions on how I can do that without taking away from the whole 'we're at war' feeling? Regardless of common belief, authors sometimes have no idea what to do sometimes XD_

* * *

><p>Twitch stifled a yawn as she and her sisters, surrounding Grievous, strolled out of the <em>Triumphant<em>, heading towards Military District.

The cyborg's information regarding hidden bases on the planet from earlier had been accurate, helping to slowly solidify the fragile trust between him and the GAR, though the ex-general still had a long way to go before being truly accepted.

"So, who's up for some assassins on the way back? Maybe we'll even get to fight a few bounty hunters." Steam grinned, hands on the back of her head in a very relaxed position; a clear sign of her confidence in the dangerous place Theed had become.

"Hah, knowing Twitch, it's sure to happen," Songbird joked. "I mean, Bane's gone after you how many times now?"

"I lost count. What's really worrying is that Kat and I are in the same place right now. That's a sure bet for someone to try killing us." The captain glanced at Claws' companion with a smirk.

"Well, considering all our pasts, this is an explosion waiting to happen." Rogue pointed out.

"Don't you just feel safe now?" Kat chuckled, patting Grievous' shoulder, though the action required her to stand slightly on tip-toes.

"Perfectly." He mumbled, apparently unsure what to make of the joking or friendly physical contact.

_It's been quite a while since I've been touched in such a manner,_ he thought nostalgically.

"Well, don't worry. We're idiots, but we're capable idiots. We'll get you home in one piece..." Arrow snickered before adding one last thing. "…ish."


End file.
